In Vala We Trust
by littleellie30
Summary: Vala picks up an unwanted stalker.  While the team scramble to solve the mystery, Implications for her safety drive her to recruit old friends to help.  Established DV.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: The song metioned in this is Mrs Cold by Kings of Convenience. It is central to some of this so I apologise if you like it. It's about to get ugly. It's not a songfic. It's just when you read other chapters it'll get a bit creepy. I know when I was listening to it and thinking about this story it got creepy for me. Enjoy! Please review. It helps me plug plot holes!

Disclaimer: Don't own SG1, don't own the song 'Mrs Cold' just really found them fun to play with.

**In Vala We Trust**

**Prologue**

**Area 51 – Just after the Odyssey incident**

The first time that he laid eyes on her was when she arrived in area 51. She had winked at him and he had felt his breath catch. Her raven black hair and steel grey eyes where stunning. She had flirted with him shamelessly and he found that he was drawn to her as he demonstrated some new Asgard technology that would be used for some mission she was about to go on. She was SG1 and that meant she was part of the elite and she had favoured him, HIM with her attentions. He had found himself wanting to know about her and that meant reassignment. He was in no hurry and he had to be patient. He put his trust in her. He hoped someday to have her heart as well. He would have to keep an eye on her.

**Chapter 1 – After the war with the Ori**

**McGinty's**

"Since I've known Vala Mal Doran, I have been beaten, wound up confused,"

".. You've forgotten tied up!" heckled Vala

Daniel blushed and continued "amused and seen a real intelligence and strength of character…"

"And don't you forget it darling!" Vala blushed after she'd said that. Daniel just smiled and raised his glass.

"…In her, many of us have found in her a true friend with deep passion and conviction of spirit which has never been shaken. She has become the heart of the SGC and long may she continue to be so! I ask you all to raise your glasses. To Vala, Congratulations on two years with us and long may you continue to be here!"

There was a shuffle of chairs from the small gathering. "TO VALA!" Vala just blushed and ducked her head in a similar fashion to Daniel. She'd picked some of his mannerisms up in the two years she had been at the SGC. She hadn't been expecting this. In fact Daniel and the rest of SG-1 had been planning this for quite some time. It was a party to celebrate her arrival at the SGC and her eventual membership into SG-1. Daniel felt that she needed some sort of recognition now that the Ori war had just finished. The team had gathered a few external friends of Vala's including some of the scientific staff like Bill Lee and some of his department who Vala had worked with on and off when she was asked to help out. General Landry had her acting as an occasional liaison with Area 51 and so she had expanded her abilities within the scope of the job. They had managed to get McGinty's Function room so as to ensure that Vala spent the evening off the confines of the base. Tables had been set for a dinner and that had some and gone. Daniels little toast was the last piece of business before the tables were to be cleared off the dance floor and the band set up.

Daniel looked at her. He was so proud of her. She really had come quite a distance and he loved that about her. She had adapted so well to this planet she now called home. He found that the annoyance that once used to plague him around her had now dimmed into a deep fondness and something that could only be described akin to love. They had been working better together and he found that he relied on her insight to keep him focused on a translation and her low tolerance for wandering around texts to keep him on track. He looked down at her and smiled. They hadn't completely defined their new relationship but it was not the same friendship it had been two years ago and it had definitely become something more than that. They were still walking through this bit. They were still finding things out about each other.

Vala looked at Daniel and grinned as he sat down. "Thank you Darling. That speech was very eloquent. I'm guessing you were up all night writing it."

Daniel Coked his head to one side and pretended to consider her statement. "Hmmm, was I up all night writing a very nice speech?" a beat passed. "Nope! Not really. Found it on the back of a cereal packet!" He grinned. Vala punched his arm.

"You are very mean Daniel Jackson! You're a meanie. I'm not going to speak to you for the rest of the evening!" She folded her arms and pouted. Daniel smiled at that. The banter had got easier for them. It tended to flow much more naturally when they weren't entirely antagonistic like now.

"Oh really? Then you won't get any kisses this evening. Goodnight Vala." He crossed his arms at the table and turned away. Vala smiled smugly 'So he wants to kiss me this evening? Two can play at that game!" She tapped his shoulder.

"Go away Vala, remember you aren't speaking to me!" Daniel smiled at this. She tapped his shoulder again. He pretended to ignore her. She tried a third time. Again he ignored her. Finally Vala decided she had had enough of this game. She got out of her chair at the table and straddled his lap in a way that he could not ignore her. "Who said I was planning on talking?" She grabbed his face and gave him a mind blowing kiss. The whole scene had not gone unnoticed by the team and they hooted their approval. Once the rest of the room noticed the commotion they joined in. When the two of them came up for air Daniel blushed crimson. He wasn't used to this kind of major attention. Jack who was the instigator of the whole raucous behaviour grinned. He'd come down to see his newest friend get the recognition she deserved. Plus seeing Sam on home from Atlantis was a bonus. The whole evening settled into a very relaxed pace after that.

The single guys were checking out who the available girls were at the bar. Jack and Sam were dancing in a way that was oblivious to others. Cameron and Carolyn joined them and Teal'c was watching the whole scene contentedly –missing Ishta and marvelling at the level of peace that his friends were able to enjoy this evening. He looked over out into the patio area which had been opened out for the party. On their own and out of prying eyes Daniel and Vala were dancing together. Occasionally they would stop and lazily kiss. The band were singing 'Mrs Cold' and Daniel was quietly whispering the words of the end of the song into Vala's ears. She smiled and kissed him again. It was peaceful and for once everyone was just enjoying being alive.

While everyone was partying and dancing, he was working. He'd achieved his goal. He had arrived at the SGC and was now part of the science staff. Since he was the new boy he did not mind. He would show them all, he was good at this job. He had found out the woman who had visited him in Area 51 was one Vala Mal Doran and he was going to be there to win her heart. He trusted her and now he was in a position to watch out for her. That night he hacked into the personnel files. He would learn a bit more about this woman and tomorrow he would begin his watch.

Just for those who don't know the song.

Mrs Cold

Hey baby, Mrs. Cold

Acting so tough

Didn't know you had it in you so be hurt at all

You waited too long

You should've hook me

before I put my raincoat on

Okay, I get it

Okay, I see

You were fronting because you knew you'd find yourself vulnerable around me

Okay, I get it

Okay, I see

You feel vulnerable around me

Hey, baby, what's going on?

You lost control and you lost your tongue

You lost me, deaf in my ear

Nothing you can say is gonna change the way I feel

Okay, I get it

Okay, I see

You were fronting because you knew you'd find yourself vulnerable around me

Okay, I get it

Okay, I see

I step too close to your boundaries

You wanted nobody around to see

You feel vulnerable around me

Hey baby

What is love?

It was just a game

We're both playing and we can't get enough of

We're both playing and we can't get enough of

We're both playing and we can't get enough of


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Vala had been giddy. She was giddy naturally but today she was especially so. Her party which had been amazing along with Daniel being deliriously attached to her throughout the evening had her literally bouncing off the walls. She stopped in the hall of the SGC and leaned up against the wal outside the science lab she worked in with Bill Lee. Vala wanted to remember the evening before she started her day of work. Savouring the memory of last night and the way she felt part of the team. Her quiet dancing with Daniel including the way they'd kissed. She shivered. Life was at its best and she could have a live action replay of those kisses any time she wanted to – within reason. They'd agreed that they wouldn't do anything to jeopardise their positions in the SGC as both of them had now found a home here. This had become everything to her – the SGC and to have Daniel in the mix just made it that much more of a joy. When she arrived at her desk in Bill Lees lab there was a note on her desk. It said

_Vala_

_I am sorry I was not there to wish you a good morning. _

Vala practically sighed and beamed her megawatt smile. That was so like Daniel. Something sweet and romantic and very much a reason to find somewhere without a security camera! What a way to be greeted in the morning. She wished that she didn't have to wait but she was glad that he had thought about her. Vala went in search of her iPod dock she kept in the lab. It was a little pink cat that she had bought on one of her trips out with Sam. She plugged it in and dug out her equally pink iPod Daniel had bought for her some time ago. She had spoken to the band before they went home and had downloaded the track Daniel had been whispering the last few lines of. 'Love is a game and we can't get enough of'. She put the song on and pretended that Daniel was there with her whispering the last few lines. She played the song on repeat about 4 times whilst working the latest but of Goa'uld technology someone had hauled of M5- something, something. She was on her own and right now that suited Vala just fine. She just wanted some time to work alone and remember the party.

He watched her from his laptop in his lab. She had found his note. Good. She knew that he was there. Her smile – ah a man could die for that smile. He wanted to make her smile again just for him. He watched as she bit her lip and put the note into her back pocket. Today was going to be a good day. He looked at her schedule wondering when he would get a glimpse of her and when he could get a chance to say hello. He was waiting to provide an opportunity to get some way to speak to him. After all this time and waiting he was hoping to say hello. He watched her work and listened to the track she was playing. Something made him take note of it and he would try and find out what had captivated this lovely lady with that music track. He nodded and took off his earphones. He would definitely need to look like he was working before his boss came in and found him.

Daniel had been going at his work all day. He loved it but he missed Vala. He'd had one of the best nights in a long while. It was peaceful and he hadn't had many of them anymore. The war had set that apart for him and he was making the most of life. Especially a life with Vala. He looked at the clock and it was close to 7pm. Had he really been working that long? He looked up. On his desk was a sandwich which looked like it had been there since lunchtime. He didn't remember it being there. He did fall asleep at one stage. Then it clicked. Typical! Vala always made sure he ate no matter how engrossed he became. That was the nature of their relationship. It always had been since the beginning. "Daniel!" Vala's voice brought him back to reality. Two seconds later she was cuddling in his lap and giving him a reminder of who she was and what she meant to him. Could his day get any better? When Daniel pulled away he realised that she was waiting to go and for the life of him he could not remember why. Dinner! Of course they were going to dinner. Daniel smiled. "I'm so sorry Vala. I guess I've lost track of time again haven't I?" Vala Shrugged.

"No more than usual Darling. However, I suggest that if we are going to make our reservations at 8 that you get out of here and change. I want some time with you outside this dusty old mountain where no one will interfere."

"Can't say I argue with that one! Especially since this will be our private party after last nights antics. Still can't believe Jack trying to out drink Cameron. The fact he actually won was incredible! The fact that Cameron fell on his face was no surprise at all." They giggled together remembering the young colonel trying to take on a general in the drinking game and losing after much coercion by the general to start it in the first place. What made it all the more funny was that said colonel had one major hangover and was now $100 lighter from his wallet as well. "Cameron should have learnt by now to never take Jack on. Shall we go?" Vala leaped off his lap and they went to the locker room to change.

Her shadow was watching. He had been following her on and off for most of the day and he had been wondering where she had gone around seven o clock. He saw her exit Doctor Jackson's lab and realised that she must have went there to get some work done. When she had come out with Doctor Jackson ten minutes later he felt compelled to follow them tonight. He'd been introduced to her today during the standard new start tour and she had smiled and flirted with them as though they were the most important people in the world. He caught her eye and she had recognised that he had worked at Area 51 and said hello again. It was all very rewarding for his day and now he wanted to see how she was. He trusted her. He trusted Vala.

During dinner at the Italian they had chosen, Vala and Daniel didn't talk much. As much as the food had made certain times impossible for speech, other times was simple companionship. Not looking for a need to talk except for Daniel to toast Vala and then planting a chaste kiss on the back of her hand. When the coffee came, the music in the restaurant changed to an acoustic one. 'Mrs Cold' came on and Vala gave him a seductive smile. "Hmm Darling, they were playing that last night don't you remember?"

Daniel listened for a second and smiled "That's right – dancing on the patio. How could I forget?" He held onto her hand and rubbed circles on it using his thumb.

"By the way, thanks for your little note this morning." Vala beamed.

"Umm, you're welcome. Wait? What note?" Daniel's brow furrowed in concentration. Vala reached into her little clutch bag and brought out the note. He looked at it. "Nope not me"

Vala scrunched up her face in puzzlement. "Funny it's kind of your style. Little things like that."

Daniel gave her a look that made her weak at the knees. Soft and full of love and longing. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "No, I would have made sure to say it in person." He whispered it so softly in her ear. Heaven help her. She knew why she loved him. He was staring at her and then he kissed in in such a way to remind her why they got together.

Vala's Shadow stared in horror at the scene being played out in the restaurant before him. He'd waited so long to get to her. He'd even paid the waiter extra money to play her favourite song. _THIS WAS NOT FAIR!_ He knew, he knew in his heart of hearts that this was a fling. He would not lose heart so quickly. He had ordered the flowers for the morning. He would not give up. In Vala he had placed his trust and there it would stay. Even it meant having to carefully remind her of it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 4**

Daniel had been wondering about the note Vala had shown him and found it hard not to be a little possessive of her in the morning when he arrived at the SGC. Their relationship was fresh and whilst they found it very easy to think about a physical relationship both felt that that was too easy for them. They'd both been burned severely by life and they wanted to build their emotional bridges first. Yes, they'd been friends for 2 years but loving someone took all things to deeper, more intimate feelings and that took time without sex to mess that up even further. Feeling this emotionally safe with someone was new to both of them, so having a quiet night before hitting the hurry of the next day was a treat for both of them. Upon hearing about the note in Vala's area of the science lab he'd been quietly concerned. His first thought was to chalk it up to a new airman who might have a little crush on her. She was very flirtatious and vivacious in nature and many could misconstrue her friendliness as something more. He hoped that was not the case but he would keep an eye on it to be sure.

Daniel walked into the commissary to get his morning cup of coffee. He'd walked with his head shoved into book that he had picked up from the office and was reading it on the way around. He ran slap bang into a rather interesting man about five foot four inches with long brown hair tied into a pony tail and green eyes. He looked new on base and basically gave him the dirtiest look Daniel had ever seen. "Hey four eyes! Get your nose out of the pages and watch where you are going!" Daniel was about to open his mouth to apologise when the guy stormed off muttering to himself about how people never look at what they are doing. Daniel shook his head – pity, he might have regretted the thought of the apology now after that. He shook his head and swore in five different languages about the man. Ah the joy of linguistics! He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned around. "Mornin' camper! How was your evenin'?" Cameron raised his eyebrows in question.

"Cam, if and when that becomes your business, I'll not even tell you then!" Daniel grinned as the younger man's face dropped. He'd been hoping for juicy titbits to tease both Vala and Daniel with ever since they'd started dating. Daniel was never happy to do anything other than watch the young colonel squirm at his responses. Today was no different except he had to know if Cam could provide any relief to his concerns. "Hey Cam, have any of the airmen been behaving, um, well," Daniel's face was fighting a blush. Cam started to grin. This had gotta be good.

"Come on _Jackson_! Spit it out. I wanna enjoy this!" Cameron had an evil grin on his face. Payback was going to be priceless for Jackson!

"Well, uhh, I was wondering if any of the airmen you have, ah, seen have been, ah, ya know?" Daniel face flushed even further and he was close to matching the red of the flashing beacons that flashed every time Walter cried "UNSCHEDULED WORMHOLE ACTIVATION!"

"Spit it out. Don't make me come over there and beat it outta ya!" Cameron was frustrated. He'd crossed his arms as if enacting some enormous measure of control. Daniel managed to get to that full red colour. Daniel sighed.

"I was wondering if any of the airmen might be behaving a bot forward with Vala. I mean I know she can be more than friendly, flirty even, but I mean I trust her implicitly. I was wondering if you noticed any guys taking her the wrong way – ya know more than friendly?" He blew out another breath to follow his rapid fire question. Cameron looked at him - amused.

"Scared of competition?" Cameron changed his stance to a more relaxed version of his pose.

"Cam, I am always going to be scared. Scared of losing her, scared of having her, scared of her when she pissed at me but scared of competition – no. She and I have nothing to worry about in that regard. We are definitely in for the long haul." Daniel had a goofy grin explode onto his face and he dropped his head as if to hide its brilliance. Cameron shook his head. In the short time he'd known Daniel he had never seen him this happy and it was a sight to behold in his experience. He clapped his hand on Daniel's back.

"Tell ya what, I'll keep my eyes open and I'll get Teal'c to do the same. No one'll go near your girl unless we give the say so!" Cameron's expression softened. "Seriously Daniel, Vala'd go mad if she heard you asking this. She knows you love her. Worry about enjoying that. We'll do the rest."

Daniel looked at Cameron touched by his younger 'brothers' concern. They'd really become a family in the last few years. "Thanks Cam, I appreciate it. I'd better go find her. I wanna say hi before I settle in on this latest translation." He nodded to Cameron and wandered off in search of his other half.

Vala's shadow was not amused by this conversation. He watched the bumbling idiot of a man with disdain. He had heard the whole conversation on his way to grab some breakfast after working through the night to take his mind off his upset over Vala. He'd volunteered to come back in to work on some new emergency and to be greeted with the sight of his rival and hearing his conversation was not how he wanted to start his day. He wandered down the corridor to the bunking quarters for the civilian population of the SGC. He looked in and found the quarters blissfully empty. He walked in and grabbed a bunk in the corner farthest away from the door and booted up his laptop and waited patiently for his desktop to show. He brought his coffee to his lips and as he loaded his software to watch his favourite love. The first of the flowers arrived this morning at his post box. She was about to start her work.

"Vala, wait up!" Daniels voice rang in the corridor. Vala had been running a little late this morning. Her coffee cup was half full and she couldn't find her key card this morning. She bit her and smiled before she turned around.

"Darling, what can I do for you this fine morning?" Daniel looked like he'd been running to find her. Her inner thoughts squealed in delight. He promised he would find her if he ever was going to say good morning – he'd renewed that promise last night. He was so sexy first thing in the morning. Heck! He was absolutely gorgeous anytime! Daniel slowed to a pace walking beside her. His blue eyes fixed squarely on her.

"I was wondering if I could have a quick chat in your lab a moment. That is, if Bill isn't in?" His eyes were hopeful. She knew that they shouldn't do this but for this moment in time she couldn't find a reason not to. She walked with him into her lab holding his hand. Looking around they could see no one there. She took him over towards the corner away from the camera's prying lense and kissed him. HARD! It was some time before she realised that time existed. Even more time before she realised that he had moved away from her. He then kissed her softly again. "Good morning." He grinned.

Vala smiled back "Good morning. I missed you last night after you left me. Don't leave me alone so alone so long again." Daniel laughed at that. He pulled her into a hug and his breath tickled her ear as he whispered in her ear. "Vala, I left you here at midnight and I was back here within 6 hours of that. There is this little thing we have to do called sleep. I left you here to do that so I could come back and say good morning. Kinda like this…." He grabbed her face in his hands again and kissed her softly, sweetly. They grinned. Vala stepped back from him. It took a lot of effort to do so as they had realised that they felt so addicted to each other. She walked slowly past him letting her finger caress his cheek in passing. She froze. Daniel noticed her freeze in almost horror. On the workbench was a vase filled with delicate pink lotus blossoms. Each was graceful in its star shaped and elegantly long stem beauty but when he looked at Vala's face she looked like she was going to be sick.

"Vala? Vala? What's wrong?" He reached her side and grabbed her hand as if it was the only thing to ground her. He followed her gaze to the flowers.

"Daniel," Vala's voice was low and deadly. "Get rid of those quickly please. I don't want to see them. Bin them, burn them – I don't care. Just get them out of my sight."

"Okay, why?" Daniel was confused. He knew he hadn't bought them but he was also confused as to why Vala was so horrified by these flowers. He reached over to the note set beside them and read it.

_Vala_

_You are as bright as these flowers. You are the one worth trusting in._

There was no signature on the note. Daniel was worried but he hid his concern. He needed to deal with Vala first. "Vala, What is it about these flowers you are so afraid of?"

"Daniel, these are the symbol of Qetesh" her voice wavered. Vala shuddered. He pulled her into his arms and held her tight. This was not right – something or someone was determined to remind her of her past. He wasn't going to let them.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry! This is actually chapter 4! Sorry about my inability to count! Fear for the future because I am a teacher!

Chapter 4

Daniel moved Vala out of the lab and walked her swiftly to his office. He didn't let go of her hand he didn't say a word except to lift the phone to ask for 2 SF's to guard the door and a meeting with himself, Cam and General Landry. He didn't want to let go of her and no one had the right to scare her like that. Vala was tough – tougher than anyone he'd known but to mess with that portion of her life was just asking for trouble from SG-1 and also the worst way to get their attention. This was just wrong. Once the phone calls were done, he went straight back to Vala's side and held her. She was shivering. She only let her guard down with him these days. In her eyes he had earned that trust and he was grateful that she was not trying to hide it. He'd asked that Cam and the General meet in his office away from prying eyes and somewhere where Vala felt safe.

When the General and Cameron arrived, Daniel spent time explaining the situation including the two notes and leaving out part of the reason he was in the laboratory. Some things they didn't need to know and knowing their relationship the General was too sensible to ask. "Son, I know that this could be an overreaction to things. In fact I think Vala could have just picked up a secret admirer for all you know. Some of the airmen on the base are young and impressionable. For all we know this could be all this is. However, given your teams more colourful history, I am inclined to start quietly looking into this. I'll try and keep the IOA out of the loop for now. They don't always provide a sympathetic point of view towards the two of you." Daniel and Cameron both frowned. Landry was a good leader but his suspicion of it being a simple secret admirer didn't sit right with both of them. They also realised that he had to play the politics game on some level and keeping the IOA at bay was his way of keeping Vala out of the firing line and tme for them to look around for themselves. Vala sat there bolt upright on Daniel's sofa and didn't say a single word. She looked to Daniel and he read the look in her eyes. _I need to get out of here. Daniel get me out of here!_ Daniel turned to Landry. "General, I appreciate that you are keeping the IOA out of this but I hope that this is as simple you make it out to be. However, I would just like to ask for a couple of days leave for Vala and myself just to get her settled away from the SGC. She doesn't need us to sign her out anymore but I would like to take her off base until this is sorted." Vala looked to Daniel appreciatively.

General Landry looked at Daniel. As far as he was concerned this could be the beginning of something innocent or something serious. He had no evidence to contradict the first assumption so far and he was wondering if the young man was being overprotective of a woman who as far as he had heard could literally throw this man to the floor. "Doctor Jackson, for the second request of off base – I can't really grant for the moment…" Daniel looked ready to argue but the General raised his hand asking him to let him finish "there is no real evidence that there has been anything serious happening here so far. I will however, accept that this incident has shaken Vala to the core. I will grant you two some personal time for two days. I want you both back here in time for your mission to M3S-5649. After that point we will review the situation and then I will review your second request – is that understood Doctor Jackson?" Daniel nodded. Tense. General Landry moved off the seat he had been sitting on and hunkered down in front of Vala. "Vala, I'm going to only say this once as your friend if you need anything - ask. As your commanding officer – go home with Doctor Jackson and use your old instincts to help us. Okay?" Vala nodded. The general noted how quiet she was. It unnerved him. She was not this quiet thing before him but a vivacious woman who had the ability to be both lovable and annoying at the same time. Someone had better not be messing with his family. He noted that he'd ask Carolyn to pop by Doctor Jackson's to have a quiet chat later on. Carolyn and Vala had become closer friends after Samantha Carter left for Atlantis.

Cameron and Daniel both walked Vala back to her quarters in silence. They didn't need to talk. They didn't have to. Teal'c met them there and offered Vala a hug – rare from the stoic Jaffa but she appreciated it all the more because of it. Vala felt numb. She had told no one about those flowers. Qetesh had loved them. All who courted her favour had brought them to her, the stench of the flowers unmistakeable. It was the abuse that came with it after that haunted her along with those flowers. She hated them. It was even a while before she appreciated any kind of flowers again. She desperately wanted out of the mountain. Cameron opened the door to her quarters and went inside first and back out just as quickly. "Princess. Ya trust me right." Daniels eyes narrowed as if to say what? Vala nodded but her suspicions were raised as were her panic levels.

"Vala, go with Teal'c and change into the civilian clothes in your locker. Then Daniel is going to take you shopping this afternoon. If you trust me, then go with Teal'c and don't ask me any questions for once follow my orders and we'll see you in two days. Jackson – for her sake, do the same and don't argue." Daniel's eyes widened. He had seen the look in Mitchell's eyes - dark and dangerous and in full military mode that was the time not to argue with him. "I'll see you in a moment Vala and I'll meet you at the locker rooms." He turned to Mitchell. "What can I do?"

"Get on the phone in your quarters and call a coupla SF's down here and then go home with the Princess and forget about the mountain – I mean it Jackson! Just don't ask." Daniel went into his quarters and did as he was told. He packed up his stuff and left. Cameron stood in front of the door and didn't open it until after Daniel had left the base. He brought General Landry down to Vala's quarters and opened the door. Inside Vala's quarters was another three vases full of lotus blossoms sitting on her chest of drawers and a note – _In Vala we trust_. The General turned to Cameron "I'm ordering you not to say a word to either of them. We're going to have to notify the IOA on this as a possible threat - for now. Have her quarters and Doctor Jacksons moved to a more secure area on the base and tell them that it is temporary for now and nothing else. I want them able to carry on with their duties as best they can." Cameron nodded. This was not going to be easy.

As soon as Daniels car left the base they headed straight for the local mall. Vala brightened immediately and Daniel relaxed at the sight of her smile. It was nice to see her smile again. He had been told that anything bought was to be charged to the base when they got back by Cameron. He had called to notify them of the temporary change in quarters and Daniel hadn't minded at all. He knew that Cameron was only moving both of them because they were mostly inseparable these days and Vala would not have moved without him anyway. Vala spent most of the morning running in and out of her favourite stores buying essential – and maybe not so essential items so that she could comfortably stay at Daniels house. He'd learned to smile, nod and coo in all the right places like every good boyfriend should. In truth, he was not always fond of shopping but he had learned to suffer through it like any normal man out with their girlfriend. He enjoyed watching her have fun and she was considerably brighter when they left the mall at lunchtime. "so… now that we've bankrupted the airforce…." HE eyed the number of bags she carried. Vala smiled like a Cheshire cat completely satisfied with her prey.

"Yes, my Daniel?" She batted her eyelashes at him in a seductive fashion. He faltered in his step a moment and recovered quickly.

"Where would you like to go for lunch?" She smiled.

"Oh! Great idea – I'm starving! Oh! oh! Daniel I know! I know! Sol's Diner. I want to go and visit!" Vala was practically hopping from foot to foot making Daniel laugh at her.

"Sol's diner it is! Let's get out of here." He kissed her nose and grabbed her bags and placed them into the back of the car. Vala needed to go someplace that was familiar and safe and for now when it wasn't the SGC, Sol was the next best thing.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Gotta warn you all now. This could get uncomfortable as a story. So if you are getting freaked a bit of your own common sense should be used when reading this. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

USUAL DISCLAIMER: blah blah blah – Don't own stargate or characters but it's a cool toy box to play with!

Chapter 5

Sol's diner was the hub of the community for this little area of Colorado Springs. If anything was certain about the diner and its clientele - anyone was welcome. If minded your manners and were congenial to the staff – pull up a stool and grab a coffee. Any attitude or lip and you were out on your ear! These were the unspoken rules of the diner. Is your dinner not right? You should have ordered it properly! Staff member rude to you – well you should've minded your gob in the first place! It was loved by all who graced its doors. Sal, the owner, was working on the counter today as he was one staff member down. Sal was enjoying some banter with his wife Julie who had stopped in for a quick coffee on her way down to the grocery store. He had had an okay day trade wise. It was summer and the district had fewer families in it due to holidays being taken. The seats around the counter were a little less full and the tables were only half empty. Feeding people was his life and his little diner was part of that life – rent or no rent.

Sal lifted his gaze as the bell went above the door. It was the last person he expected to see today. "Val, honey! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" His favourite short term waitress had been absent from the diner for a few months. She had been visiting with him on and off after the time she spent with him. She left the arms of a tall man with brown sandy hair and glasses and gave him a peck on the cheek along with a hug.

"Sal, darling!" Vala squealed "Nice to see you again! Can I introduce my Daniel? He works with me at, at the airbase and we have been going out now for about 6 months!" Daniel smiled. Vala's stuttered cover was not usual for her. Often trying to explain what they did to the outside world was classified at the best if times – mind boggling at worst. So to see her stutter slightly meant that Vala held Sal in a level of respect that very few people were granted – she trusted him.

"Sal, it's nice to meet you. The last time we came in we had heard you were off sick. Vala missed you." Sal smiled at that comment. He eyed the man she called Daniel up and down like a protective father. Vala was his friend and he didn't want her to be hurt. This guy seemed to have his eyes firmly fixed on Val and Sal saw the doe eye love look he gave her when she wrapped her arm back around his waist. Yep! This guy was heading towards the old ball and chain. "Val, can I introduce you to my wife Julie? She's the gorgeous lady sitting next to register. Vala looked over to the counter to see a short petite lady with brown hair and green eyes lift her head at the mention of her name. She smiled and nodded politely.

"So honey what can I get ya today? Anything you like?"

"I'll have blue plate special for me and my Daniel. He needs to learn to live a little" She turned and gave him a cheeky smirk and Sal noticed an almost imperceptible conversation drift between them. Daniel smirked back after it occurred.

"Comin' right up Val. Go grab a seat and I'll get you both some water."

"Actually…" Daniel spoke for the first time "could I please have a coffee. I've been working a bit late again." He saw Vala frown at that and mouthed a sorry to her.

"Sure kid. Be right with you." Daniel and Vala grabbed their seats and sat in silence for a while just content to be in one another's company. Although many people couldn't see it Vala was worn and scared. Daniel saw she was dwelling on the events of the morning and it didn't seem to be far from her thoughts. He bided his time. She would speak when she was ready. He looked around. It was nice in here. Not flashy but very homey with the wood counter, wooden tables and metal seats. The yellow and green wallpaper was not exactly to his taste but the atmosphere was relaxed and in that he could see Vala gain a sense of peace here. For that he was grateful. Whoever had sent those flowers to here obviously had some kind of agenda that they hadn't figured out yet and by the way Cameron had banned both of them from the base meant that there was a calling card of some description in Vala's room. Cameron wouldn't let him see and that frightened him. He felt that Cameron didn't trust him to remain calm for Vala's sake and in a way he was right. They had come so far in these last few years and to lose her would put an end to him.

"Daniel?" He looked up. Whoops! Maybe been too quiet there

"Yep?"

"Why did Cameron not let me into my room? I mean, it is, after all my room, isn't it?"

"Course it is. I think Cameron might be taking precautions that's all"

"Doctor Daniel Jackson!"

'Uh oh – in trouble now!' thought Daniel. Vala only used his full title when he was in trouble with her.

"You are an even worse liar than I have tried to teach you to be. You have an idea what's going on don't you!" Vala's eyes flashed in steel grey brilliance. Daniel caught it and ducked his head. She reached across and brought his eyes back to meet hers. They were afraid and that killed him to see. He sighed.

"I think something may have been left in your room and Cameron was trying to protect you. He didn't want me freaking out or worrying so he made sure that I was kept out of it." Vala scowled and Daniel thought that Cameron was a dead man in her eyes the next time she got back – she didn't like to be babied. Come to think of it, neither did he! He cursed and growled softly under his breath and Vala smiled.

"Oooh sexy! Care to do that again?" She smiled demurely. Daniel laughed. It felt good to shake off the shadows of the morning and enjoy good company. Vala held his gaze for a minute before she cracked too and she was laughing hard as well. Both of them had tears dripping off them and neither could look at the other without laughing again. The day was getting better. Vala's cell phone went. A text had come through. She reached into her purse and dug it out. She pressed the main button and looked at the message. Her breath caught and tears started to drip down her cheeks – what had she done to attract this? Daniel noticed her shaking and immediately was by her side taking the phone from her hands and kissing her cheek and whispering words of reassurance. Sal rushed over to see what the commotion was –two dinners in hand. He put the plates down and lifted her phone and read the text.

_Hey, baby, what's going on? You lost control and you lost your tongue. You lost me, deaf in my ear_

_Nothing you can say is gonna change the way I feel, Okay, I get it, Okay, I see_

_You were fronting because you knew you'd find yourself vulnerable around me._

_In Vala We Trust_. _Regards Mr Cold. _


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

He was angry. He fell asleep in the bunk before he had a chance to see her. He didn't even see her get the flowers! He'd been so careful to leave both gifts in her lab and her room. When he hacked into the security feeds from the on base cameras he found her nowhere on the base. She had to know that that had hurt him – didn't she? She was the one person he trusted and he needed to remind her of that. He also thought about how he would let her know that things were from him and only him. He didn't want that four eyed hick getting the credit for his work. He had left something for him to ensure that he stayed clear of her. He loved her and there was no one who was going to separate them.

She had to know that his messages or gift came from something they'd shared. He remembered one of the last times he'd seen her smile. The song she was playing! What was it called again? Ah yes, Mrs Cold. If she was Mrs Cold, he smiled, well he would be her other half. He lifted his laptop and logged into the online text messaging service. He would speak to her soon enough. Time to send a little love note. He needed to remind her he was still thinking of only her.

Cameron was getting angrier as the day went on. He was walking briskly to his office after spending a delightful few hours in phone conference with Woolsley and he was next to useless. He did realise that the 'weasel of a little man' would actually go to bat for them with the IOA it's just that he was so pedantic about every key detail. He was trying to battle every point for Vala including the key fact that this sick creep was attacking his family. Cameron felt that he was clueless as to how to start to find him. This was usually Sam's department. She was meticulous and methodical in her thinking and left for Atlantis two days ago. He cursed loudly scaring the SF in corridor. They had been working on the security video feed for the base and found that they had been coming up empty. No one except for the cleaning staff had been near Vala's lab the night before and they had begun to question them. The fact that someone had been in her quarters was more worrying. It was as if someone was rubbing their nose in the fact that nothing could be found.

The essential question was simple - why Vala? Why did this guy latch onto her? Everyone on the base who got to know her liked her. She had a way of worming past the obvious defences of a person and making them feel involved in any group. Sure she was flirtatious but that had toned down significantly since she started dating Jackson. She got her man why behave any more outrageously than needs be? So why choose her? He needed to be able to give both of them some answers and soon. This little incident with the flowers had the potential to disrupt the team and the ability to do their jobs. Vala had suffered enough in her life on top of all this and no one messes with SG1 family.

The call came through to Cameron's office. He was also worried about Daniel. Since he and Vala had gotten closer the guy was more relaxed and much easier to work with. This situation, if it progressed, could make him a nightmare to control if General O'Neill's advice was anything to go by. Daniel tended to be more stubborn and less likely to follow an order when something he was impassioned by was threatened. The call that had come through was from the stubborn man himself – one Doctor Jackson. He gave Cameron the address of the diner and told him to haul his ass over there as it was concerning Vala.

Grabbing his civilian gear and Teal'c they made good time to the diner. Vala was sitting in a pokey office with a hot tea in front of her and Daniel ever present by her side. When Cameron arrived into the diner he noticed a police detective sitting talking quietly to a rather tall man with White hair. He ignored the two of them. 'Besides coffee, what is a cop doing here?' thought Cameron. He nodded in greeting to Daniel who whispered softly in Vala's ear and squeezed her hand. He left the office and closed the door. Teal'c simply took a quiet protective stance outside the office like he was guarding Apophis himself - His dark eyes on high alert daring anyone to try and get past him. Daniel grabbed Cameron's arm and led him a short distance away from the office.

"A text came in about 40 minutes ago on Vala's phone. It was a message from someone calling himself Mr Cold. He quoted words from a song we'd been dancing to the night of Vala's shindig. Cam, this is serious. No one outside of authorised people and the team should have that number. She has done so little to offend and she's terrified". Daniel's face fell. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. When Cameron came in it was as if Daniel could face a horde of Ori Soldiers. It was only once he closed the office door did he allow his face to drop and the sheer worry and fear show.

"What's with the cop?" Cameron asked

"The problem was we were here when the text came through. Sal, Vala's friend, had come over with our orders and happened to pick up the phone and read the text. He took one look at us and called Detective Paul Ryan. Do you remember him? Actually you stayed about two seconds and then lost your pants to Vala so you probably don't." Cameron grimaced.

"You ain't ever gonna let me forget that are you?"

"What? Nooo, like your pants it's got legs in it. It can go for miles." A ghost of smile ran over Daniels face.

"We can't let a civilian investigate this. We checked the tapes and the cleaning crew are all being interviewed as we speak. I'll speak to him" stated Cameron.

Detective Paul Ryan of the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) looked over at the little office which contained a lady with whom he had little trust in. He had seen the newcomers come in and the tall dark skinned man in a hat guard the door like the Queen of England herself was in that office. He also watched with curiosity as Doctor Jackson took the young man in his late thirties and blue eyes over to a far corner. It was obvious from the deference that they gave to each other that they knew each other. It was also clear as to who was in charge of the two as what seemed to be a short explanation seemed to be taking place about the lady who was now being so fiercely protected by the tall silent man at the office door.

Vala Mal Doran (what a weird name!) was evasive, manipulative and uncooperative much like she had been the first time he had met her. He simply didn't trust her. It didn't help that her boyfriend, one Doctor Daniel Jackson was equally evasive and blocking him at each turn to question her citing that it was a classified matter and his CO would be along to speak to him. It was a text message, a simple text message. He had managed to get the detail of it from his long-time friend Sal who apparently trusted Vala and her boyfriend. National Security and classified were two words which irritated him to no end. There had been too many incidents over the past 12 years that had fallen under that bracket in this town. He had the unfortunate luck of being side lined by them. Especially the time when people started to get sick from the plague incident that started in St Francis. He'd quietly looked into that and found that no one had even seen the patient who started it all in that hospital. Then there was the time that he had met this lady – Vala Mal Doran or Jane Doe as he knew her to be at the time. The fake Colonel Carter and the phone call that the real one had got about a 'transmitter' on someone called Mitchell. Then there was Vala. She had claimed that she had lost her memory but here she was just as untrustworthy as ever.

'Seems like her memory managed to come back quite well in these past 2 years' he mused. He'd rang a friend at the station when he got the call to try and get info on the people involved and they had found that the information only went to their names and not much else. There was something not quite right about these air force people. In fact he felt that there was something not quite right about that mountain for some time. The only information he had garnered out of the evasive doctor involved who he was and where he worked.

"Detective Ryan" Paul turned to face the voice who had shaken him out of his reverie. It was a familiar face that he could not seem to place and it was the young man who had been talking to Doctor Jackson.

"Colonel Cameron Mitchell United States Air Force." The Colonel seemed to brandish his ID badge like it was a talisman for non-interference. This irritated Paul. "I'm here to take over the incident with Ms Mal Doran. She is a member of my team and as such her work and mine is classified. I'm sure you can appreciate that this is hardly something that you need not waste any time on." Cameron's look was authoritative and his speech had just pushed the detective's irritation quota up to the max for the day.

"Colonel, whilst I appreciate that you have to deal with your team member's concerns. I am here because a friend of mine asked me to help this young lady. I am a man of my word and I will do this as a favour to my friend. What I don't appreciate is being told what I can and cannot do. So you'll forgive if I am not so sympathetic about being told to get out of your road. I believe it was the same attitude I got from a Colonel Carter the last time I tried to help you people. As it is there isn't much reason for me to be here at the moment. Sal asked me to help and I will always help this man out. So go ahead knock yourself out – don't call me when you get out of your depth." He watched Colonel Mitchells face during his tirade. He didn't flinch but he did see some sympathy cross his face.

Cameron felt for this cop. He truly wished he could use this guy. He did help a lot the last time when Vala was missing with no memory. According to Sam he'd been the one who traced the car at the motel and even made sure that all the uniforms had kept an eye out for her after she had been taken away by the trust operatives.

"Detective Ryan, I wish I could bring you in on this. There are so many favours we owe you for getting Vala back to us two years ago. Just know that this is for the best. We appreciate that you may feel frustrated by our no go approach towards you but don't feel we have forgotten. Thank you for coming to help." The detective said nothing except to nod his head. With that little speech over, Cameron turned away from the police detective. Teal'c had moved away from the office door signifying that Daniel had returned to Vala's side. These two were definitely hard to separate. This was gonna get awkward if this Mr Cold kept his 'we love Vala' fan club up. Teal'c walked over. 'Murray gotta call him Murray out here'. Cameron chastised himself.

"What's up T..,Murray?" Asked Cameron

"DanielJackson is going to take ValaMalDoran home to his house. They are leaving soon and will be back on the base in the morning if that is acceptable to you. He asked me to relay this to you." Cameron stood in thought for a moment. It was better to keep her off the base at the moment as nothing except a text has come through. If this were any normal stalker case from what he understood of the police they normally would not make such a fuss of what had happened so far. It was barely noteworthy. However, the police didn't work with the most secret project in the world and the fact it was one of the resident aliens was also cause for concern. The trust could be involved and phone calls to Agent Barrett were being made to ascertain their current activities.

"Sure, cut 'em loose. Just tell them both that I'll pick 'em both up for work tomorrow. We need to put an end to this and quickly." Teal'c bowed his head slightly in agreement.

"I shall tell them directly ColonelMitchell." Teal'c turned and headed for the office. He was angry about how this 'person' seemed to be hurting his team mate. Vala was a warrior who acted with much honour since she joined them. She made Daniel very happy and this 'person' acted without honour. He was no better than the Goa'uld. He would find him and teach him a 'lesson' in honour. Teal'c smiled grimly for a second and then went into the office to give Daniel the news.

**Daniel's House**

Daniel had only bought the house a few months into his new found relationship with Vala. He wanted a more permanent place for himself now that the Ori war was over. His apartment beforehand was a place he had inhabited when he wasn't on the base and with his need to actually live his life he felt that having a house was the best idea to achieve that goal. That and having someplace for him and Vala to be themselves outside of work was a bonus.

He had pulled the car into the driveway and looked over at her. She looked frail. This had shaken her up more than she may let him know. Vala was a survivor and had stood to fight every day but this was an evil she did not normally come across. It wasn't an alien (that they were aware of) and it wasn't an off world threat. This was someone coming at her individually getting to her in her home. The SGC had become her home. The best one she had ever known. Someone had violated that. He winced. Vala was staring straight ahead oblivious to her surroundings.

Daniel pulled her out of the car and settled her on the couch with a warm blanket tucked in around her and planted a small kiss on her forehead. He returned to the car to get the shopping out and looked down the street. Two SGC security goons were sitting in a car parked across from his house and he was grateful for their presence in case the trust would have a go at her tonight. He quietly made dinner and she came into the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around him and tucked her chin onto his shoulder.

"Hey Vala." His voice was soft and warm.

"Hello my Daniel." He turned and held her for a short while. Not much was said. What could be said? He smelled something about to burn and released her.

"Let's eat shall we? Dinner is about to burn and I don't want you cranky from no food."

"Who says I get cranky? NOW FEED ME!" He had to laugh at that.

They sat and ate their dinner in the living room watching the television – some random show about fashion makeovers that Vala liked. Once the show had finished, Vala switched off the television much to Daniels surprise as Vala was the one who was constantly addicted to television. He was sitting on the couch and she moved over to sit beside him.

"Daniel?"

"Vala?"

"Why can't we let Detective Ryan help us out? I mean I have no idea why this is happening to me but he seems perfectly capable of helping."

"You know why Vala. He hasn't got the clearance." Vala pouted. "I mean in your years with the Stargate have you ever heard of this happening?" Daniel looked at her and thought about it. They had been very luck over the years. The outside world knew nothing of what they did. The types of cases they had to deal with on earth always had less of the human element involved and more of the alien element. Now it seemed that that luck had run out and the outside criminal mind was creeping in. How do they cope with that? They had no experience dealing with it and from the look on Vala's face she knew what he had been thinking.

"Daniel, I want to speak to Mr Weasel Man in the morning."

"Woolsey? Why?"

"I am not going to give in to a spineless man who refuses to show himself. I have an idea!" She grinned. Daniel groaned. Trouble was definitely ahead if Vala had an idea. Dear help the person that instigated it!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

1900 Hours above ground

The day above ground mixed with night. Not very many people were aware of the changes until they stuck their heads above ground. Hank Landry felt like he missed seeing the weather change since taking this command. It was always a shock to come up expecting sun only to be soaked by rain. He tried to take a walk at least once a day to the surface. It helped him to make sense of his crazy command. Today had especially been crazy.

0800 SGC Conference Room

Vala Mal Doran came bouncing into the conference room. She seemed according to the General to be much better than the shadow he had seen yesterday in Doctor Jackson's office. In fact you probably couldn't tell the difference between the two. She came in and sat next to the senior archaeologist who looked in contrast very tired and withdrawn. They'd obviously been up late but it seems that he was worse off for the activity. It obviously was not romantic concerns that got the young doctor of that the general was sure but to see such hope in the young woman next to him? Well something was certainly up.

"General" the voice came in a clipped professional response. Cameron Mitchell came last taking his customary seat as Teal'c as usual had been first to arrive.

"Alright SG-1, what's the situation with this person who appears to be sending things to Miss Mal Doran?" The customary briefing of a General meant details and Daniel seemed to be the one filling the general in with all of them. He began with the flowers and the text and then stopped after that. "Doctor Jackson?"

"Sir, Vala has an idea that she would like to share" Daniel tensed after saying that. He obviously knew the details. The general frowned. Vala's ideas were wacky at the best of times sometimes they were downright insightful but either way they usually ended up getting everyone involved into trouble. Vala beamed.

"Sir" She began. 'Definitely trouble' thought Landry. She rarely began with sir and even more rarely said it with any kind of sincerity. "I was thinking about my situation and Daniel and I were wondering about how to deal with it. "

"You mean you were sticking to your guns. I was hoping to temper them" countered Daniel

"I want to meet with the IOA and place a proposal in front of them before this whole 'wonko' guy gets out of hand. I know there have been no similar situations in the past and I was wondering why there were no trained personnel outside of the SF's (who do a fabulous job by the way!) to deal with outside threats such as this to the SGC and its personnel. Okay since the Marines and the US Navy have their own investigative force – why doesn't the SGC? I would like to speak to Mr Weasel"

"She means Woolsey sir" countered Daniel. Vala and Daniel have no love lost with the man but this was interesting to say the least. The general didn't believe that this was a bad idea but something about this had Daniel worried.

"Yes, yes Daniel! I think he knows who I'm talking about." Vala countered testily. "I would like to propose a start to the new group. Detective Ryan from the Colorado Springs police department. I would also like to bring in a bounty hunter friend to work with him from off world."

Ah, now the general understood about Daniel's tension. He'd obviously been arguing about this with her last night. It was bad enough to bring an off world bounty hunter into the SGC but to also do a disclosure? This girl was definitely pushing her luck. However, he could see the common sense in it. The off world bounty hunter had the skills to track and capture with knowledge of alien cultures. The police detective had the investigative skills to find the culprit and put context on the evidence. Perfect! Now how to convince Woolsey? There had not been enough happen here to warrant this extreme level of thinking. He sighed. "Vala, you have to understand. The IOA consider what has happened as serious but nothing remotely dangerous has happened to make them take note. I think you have a fantastic idea but until things change we are the ones who are going to have to try and solve this."

Vala stood up angry. She pushed her chair out and stormed up to the general's seat leaned over and poked him. "You know it's alright for you – you are a man and as such you are less likely to be blamed or picked on for things like this. Someone seems determined to start a little campaign to do heaven knows what to me and could somehow end up hurting people in the long run. I had this happen to a friend. It started slow with her and it built up into her death all because someone wouldn't take action early enough. Granted she and I do not come from model citizen backgrounds but I warn you now this is going to get ugly. In fact I would take a guess it already has. If someone outside of this command knows of my background of Qetesh and is thinking of using that as a means to attract my attention – they've got another thing coming! Oh and by the way I'll say this now to save time – I told you so! You didn't listen to me before regarding Nerus and look where that got you! I suppose second times a charm? You've got a daughter – how would you feel if it were her? SHAME ON YOU!" Vala stormed out of the conference room leaving the occupants stunned from her rant. Daniel nodded to the General and left behind her.

Daniel found her 20 minutes later in her old quarters. She sat on the floor with her knees to her chest staring at the vases that had been left in her room. He came in and she looked at him. The question in her eyes was clear – _why didn't you back me up?_ He put his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet while he looked at the floor. He had no answer for her. He knew that the idea would have been shot down. She pointed to the door. He tried to say something but she just looked at him. He closed his mouth. The message was clear –_ Leave!_ He just nodded and turned away. "I'll be in the office. When you are ready – we'll talk. I, I'm sorry Vala."

"Obviously not sorry enough Daniel" Her eyes burned into his back as he left the room.

12.00

Vala still hadn't come by. He noticed her absence and the hole it brought with it after they had had any kind of disagreement. She was right to be mad with him. He hadn't backed her up. It wasn't a wholly bad idea actually. It was the prospect of her dealing with the IOA who would have said no and dealing the fallout of that. He felt helpless because he simply did not know how to help. He tried to concentrate on his work and nothing seemed to come to him. He wanted to ask her about her friend, wanted to understand how it had happened. She had been right about Nerus and they had lost her. He didn't want to lose her again not when they had just discovered how to be together as a couple.

15.00

Cameron had called into the generals office on the way to the SF's station. He reported to the general that they had made no progress on the text message. It had been routed via an anonymous messaging website making it impossible to trace. They had no way to access the servers of the website as they had no legal jurisdiction. He reiterated that Vala's idea had merit. The general looked at him. "General, for the moment we have no way of getting the IOA's approaval. Can't we at least do a background check on Detective Ryan so that when we are sure of their approval we can pull him in straight away?"

"Well, I can see no harm in it. You have a go Colonel. Oh and Colonel come in and close the door for a second." Cameron closed the door. He knew that General was taking this seriously. He just forgot Vala's propensity for being unpredictable.

The General "have you seen Ms Mal doran in these last few hours?" the general scowled.

"She's with Carolyn sir. Apparently she asked if some of the SF's could bring some of her work to the nearest medical labs. She attempted to get on with her work only to find someone had taken her ipod and filled it with the song 'Mrs Cold' on repeat. She went nuts screaming and wouldn't let no one else near her except Carolyn. Carolyn had to sedate her. She wouldn't even let us go for Doctor Jackson."

"Where is he?" Asked the general

"Doctor Jackson is in his office. No one has had the guts to go near him to tell him about this latest incident. He'd go mad if he heard about this! I'm going to go down there now to fill him in" answered Cameron.

17.00

He sighed and threw his glasses off his face and onto the table. Carolyn had thrown him out of the infirmary. He'd go back in an hour and stay with Vala all night if he had to. This should not be happening! It was simple callous torture which had kicked off really quickly in the space of a few days. Vala went nuts because it was someone who was trying to get to her directly in her home. She didn't deserve this. He put his face into his hands. He didn't see the creature that slithered around his bench. He only felt a sting and feeling sick. He fell off the chair. The next thing he felt was blackness.


	8. 7B Pause for Reflection

**Pausing for Reflection**

Vala's Shadow smiled to himself. Who'da thought a Sodan cloak could prove to be so much fun. The needle had punctured the doctor's skin. The sedative worked first before the snake venom would start to spread in the doctors system over the next 20 hours. His hobby in snakes would pay off after all. He walked out of the archaeologist's office and went to his room. Once there he turned the cloak off. This was the one he had brought with him from Area 51. He'd had access to a few toys from his former workplace and he was going to use them to his full advantage. He smiled. The competition would soon be out of the way and he would soon be able to chase Vala without any kind of hindrance. Yes today was a good day.

He made for the infirmary. There she was lying asleep on her bed. He sat down beside her and stroked her cheek. Very soon she would be able to spend some time together. For now though he would have to be content with leaving her a little gift. He bent over and kissed her hand. He left the lotus blossom on her bedside cabinet and walked out. He'd see her soon enough. For now though he would have to be patient again.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The first thing she felt was exhaustion like a really bad hangover – sedative. She must have had a sedative. The next sensation she heard was noise lots of it like someone was in a persistent hurry and nothing she did to drown it out was going to stop it. The smell _URGH!_ Like someone had mixed antiseptic with a bad floral air freshener. When she tried to open her eyes? WOW THAT'S BRIGHT! She tried to shake this overload of information – something was happening. Something was going on. A hand rested on her arm. 'Daniel?' the word came to her mind so quickly and full of hope. No matter what had happened before she wanted him here now.

"Vala." Twin blue eyes rested on her face but she was disappointed by them. They were not the ones she wanted to see right now.

"Cam," Vala looked around and her eyes rested on a closed off curtained area. "What's going on Cam? What's all the fuss about?" She tried to smile. "Has Reynolds got SG-3 into trouble AGAIN?" Cameron didn't laugh or smile or even acknowledge the joke. Cameron looked grave and serious –which didn't happen often. Vala's heart sped up a notch and she slid her hands under her legs in case they should shake. "Cameron Mitchell, stop that you're making a girl nervous and you shouldn't do that to your favourite princess." Cameron got up from his seat and hugged Vala tightly. Seconds later Teal'c appeared behind him, his face equally as grave. "Where's Daniel? WHERE'S MY DANIEL?" She shrieked and Cameron winced. She'd done that right next to his ear. Vala didn't want to hear it when Cameron explained where they had found him and how. She didn't want to know that it wasn't looking good and that they weren't sure what the poison was. They were waiting for an answer from the blood work but even then there is no guarantee. 'Wait a minute poison?' Vala pushed herself out of Cameron's arms and looked over at the curtained area.

She voiced her thought "Cam, did you say poison?"

"Sure princess, there's no medical reason that Carolyn can think of for Jackson to keel over like that. Especially since he was given a clean bill of health from his last post mission medical."

"But was there anything around him? Who found him?" she persisted

"Nevin his assistant found him on the floor. Says he came in to ask him for advice on a text before he went back to the Alpha site. Said he raised the alarm after he lifted the flower away from his chest. You know Jackson and that hay fever of his." Cameron sat back onto the chair next to Vala's bed and it was there he noticed it - a single lotus blossom. Vala's eyes followed his and she shivered. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and continued.

"What kind of flower?" Her eyes flashed open with urgency. "Come on Cam this might be important!"

"It was like the one sitting next to you." His head dropped into his hands in realisation. "It was him wasn't it?"

"I'm guessing you need to tell Carolyn to look at antivenins. Cam, if this person calling himself a human being holds true to form with his Qetesh obsession Daniel's got snake venom in his system. Qestesh in your delightful earth history is shown to have two things being held in each of her hand – lotus blossoms and a snake. AHH! Daniels rubbed off on me! One was a symbol for life and the other was a symbol for a certain part of your anatomy." Cameron thought about it for a second and blushed. "Well she was a sex goddess after all. Grabs ya by balls does that one! Now the only problem for Carolyn is finding out the type of snake. Hopefully she can save Daniel's life. How long ago was he found?"

"He was found 2 hours ago." Stated Teal'c "From what I remember hearing of Qetesh she liked to provide herself with slow suffering amusement did she not?" Teal'c raised his eyebrow. Vala could see where this was going. Her imprisonment as Qetesh's host was not something she liked to think about never mind speak of.

"Teal'c tell Carolyn to get online and check for any slow acting venoms probably something that attacks the nervous system – that was a Qetesh speciality and the most painful. I'm guessing if he is obsessed with the Qetesh part of me then they would need to look at Egyptian snakes. I think that Qetesh preferred to leave cobras in her victims' cells. She knew they attacked if they were disturbed and that was what made it all a game to her. She'd watch them die slowly if she was bored." Vala shivered in memory. Cameron just shivered out of horror. He was so glad that snakehead was gone gone gone! He preferred Vala and he never wanted to get on even Vala's bad side on a good day!

"Cam, Can you sneak me out of the infirmary. I need to speak to the general. We need to get Detective Ryan in on this ASAP – I believe the phrase is?" Cam nodded.

"I'd already asked General Landry to run a background check on him and he had cleared the check for us but if you are going to push for this you'll need additional military backing before heading to the IOA with your little idea. Don't worry General O'Neill is waiting on your call. When Daniel was hurt I called him. It was one of his standing orders to me before he gave me SG-1. So go call him! MUSH PRINCESS! I'll deal with the angry doctor later for you." Vala got off her bed and kissed Cameron on the cheek in thanks and ran right out of the infirmary.

The phonecall to Jack took surprisingly less time than she thought. Apparently Mitchell had been a busy boy while she had been out for the count. Seemingly he had explained her little idea to Jack and he had been making calls to various people with clout to bring it into action. Really all he wanted to know was one thing.

"Vala, how is he?" Jacks gruff concern broke through her thoughts. In the time she had known Jack O'Neill she had found a friend. When she and Daniel finally got together, Jack had become a brother to her as well.

"I'm not sure Jack. I think whoever started this wanted to hurt Daniel because of me. I won't stand for that!" She said it in such a fierce tone. No one who ever tried to mess with Daniel lived long enough to get away with it when it came to Vala. The Ori learnt that lesson fast.

"That's my girl! Make sure that you send him my way by the time you're done!" Jacks voice let slip a tone of pride in Vala. He'd been proud of the ways she had brought his friend back to life. So she was equally protected by him in any way feasible and even some that weren't. "I've got a call into the president about your idea – which by the way Hank and I both want to back. Security check has come through for your cop friend. Kudos on that idea. Don't worry about presenting it to the IOA as I'll handle that. Just worry about our space monkey and the slime that you are trying to be rid of. Take whatever help you need to get this done Vala. I've had enough of this guy trying to mess with our family. Whatever you need – call me – got that?" Vala smiled. She was always glad of Jack.

"Got it Jack. Next time you are here Daniel," She drew in a shuddering breath. "Daniel and I will buy you dinner! Love you"

"Love ya too kiddo! Now go see to our spacemonkey and that Detective friend of yours!" The phone clicked at the other end and Vala's shoulders dropped. Daniel needed to pull through this and the clock on 18 hours was ticking. Detective Ryan could wait until tomorrow.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It was about two days before Daniel opened his eyes. Vala stayed with him around the clock and Teal'c, Cameron or a member of SG3 stayed with her at all times. She was never left on her own but most of them especially the SG-1 boys had the sense to give her enough space to talk to Daniel privately when he was in a coma. The anti-venin was touch and go but Carolyn checked with the bases Zoologist and rang for the anti-venin from one of the air force's special suppliers. General O'Neill allowed the Odyssey, which had just arrived home, to beam a member of the SGC personnel to the street next to the suppliers and back again in order to get the medicine to the infirmary within the 18 hours. He'd ordered the ship to stick around for an unofficial refit just in case the need for some Asgard technology should come in handy to put this to rest. The current commander was happy to oblige since the ship had been off on long range recon for the last 5 months. It seemed to Vala that her shadow had gone to ground for now after the Daniel's attempted murder. That had her worried.

She looked at Daniel. His blue eyes were foggy with developing awareness that he had just woken up from a long sleep and the fact that there was a tube in his throat. She smiled at him, kissed his head and called for Carolyn. He tapped at the tube. She knew she had to distract him for a moment till Carolyn came over.

"Doctor Daniel Jackson!" His eyes gave that guilty look. "You scared me to death – I can't leave you alone for an hour without you getting into some kind of trouble can I?" He looked at her as if to say '_Not my fault – don't look at me!'_ She smiled mischievously and slapped his arm lightly. At that point Carolyn came over and began to fuss over him. Out came the tube and a full check-up occurred. Vala waited until Carolyn's ministrations were over and gave Daniel a soft kiss. "Jack was asking for you. Said he was coming to kick your ass if you did that to him again. I told him not to waste the air miles because I'd do it for him." Daniel smiled. He tried to speak but Vala put her fingers over his mouth. "Rest darling, I have some things to do. Cam is coming to sit with you but I will be back. I'll need you over these next few days to get better. We've work to do!"

She kissed him again and headed out the door. He watched her go unable to speak because of the raw throat from the tube. He wanted her to stay so badly. He looked over and saw Cameron smile. This was going to be another long recovery. He sighed.

Detective Paul Ryan had had another bad day. Two suspects from a local robbery had been freed because the evidence they'd collected was not enough. He cursed. These two guys were so smug when they were interrogated. They had committed the crime of that he was certain but there was no concrete evidence to go ahead with the prosecution. He had tried to warn his superiors that these guys would just do the crime again but no one wanted to know. There was not enough evidence therefore why worry they'd get them again. He grabbed his coffee mug from his desk and filled it. He closed the door to his office and opened the report on his laptop. There was a knock on his door. 'Go away' was his first thought. "Yes!" He answered testily. A silver haired air force general came in. His eyes crinkled in amusement. This really irritated him. United States Air Force did they ever catch a hint and leave him alone?

"Detective Paul Ryan I presume?" Pauls brown eyes narrowed. He didn't like this guy. Too cocky and self-assured and guaranteed to be trouble. The general sat down in the seat without being asked. He had a folder with him which he placed on Paul's desk. The general waited saying nothing. Paul could not believe this. He had a USAF general come into his office and he said nothing – why? It didn't help that this man's demeanour made him want to punch him. He glared at the man with pure insolence and irritation. It was five minutes of glaring later that Paul broke. "What do you want and why are you here and who exactly are you?" The silver haired man raised his eyebrow and nodded in approval. "Good you don't arse about. I like that. She was right about you. For your information, I'm here to offer you a job on the recommendation of a very good friend of mine. Who am I? I am Brigadier General Jack O'Neill and I need you to sign a document stating that if you talk to anyone about this I'll haul your ass off to a deep dark prison cell where you won't be able to see the light of day. That clear enough for ya?"

Jack looked at the detective for a reaction to his little tirade. 'Vala had better be right about this guy. Everything I read says she is but I wanna be sure. This is her and Danny we're talkin' about here.' His thought hadn't been far from them these past few days. Jack had got tired of wating for Vala to get this done so he convinced her that he would do this part of the job for her. He reached over into the folder and brought it out the standard non-disclosure forms. The guy was cleared on the security check they ever so quickly pushed through. The President approved the whole idea and the IOA where still arguing about it. He couldn't wait that long. The detective looked at him. He could see the mix of stress and frustration roll off him. It had been a long time since he had felt that in the context of field work. He missed it. Now the stress he felt associated with politicians who he'd gladly zat for 10 minutes to think clearly. The detective finally nodded after what seemed an age. He lifted his head defiantly daring the general to say anything. Jack smirked – he might just like this guy after all – he had guts. "Okay General, give me the papers. I'll sign them because I want to know who this she is for starter who recommended me and secondly I'd be interested to know why you'd come to me after all." Jack tossed over the papers and a pen. This was going to be fun!

Jack took a deep breath. "I'm not going to tell you everything. I'll leave that to the acceptance of the job and the rest of the team. My team. Let's start with the basics. A couple of years ago a lady you brought into your office had just beaten the crap out of two attempted robbers of a local diner. She told you she had lost her memory and she didn't know who she was. She was taken away by some false air force officers and you helped her friends to get her back. They never forgot that and neither did she. For two years these people have been racking their brains trying to think of a way to thank you. Just last week, my best friend was attacked." Jack's voice strained slightly. "His better half, the lady you helped, has the need of a good detective and she proposed that you are it. This lady does not often make recommendations but she does I sit up and take notice. She pointed me to you." He stopped there. The detectives face swung from confusion to recognition to disillusion.

"So what, you want me to solve your little ladies problems. Hold her hand, say a little 'there, there' and solve the problems of the world?" Paul felt like being belligerent. The air force had trod on his toes once too often in one shape or form. "I have no idea what makes this so hush hush anyway." Paul watched this general. His outburst would have got him slapped down by his captain, this guy? He didn't know. Jack just lay back in his chair as if to say 'continue, no really continue'. He was too cool a customer. Who was he and what had he wanted with him anyway?

Jack looked at the police detective. He'd seen worse off the Goa'uld, so this guy was a walk in the park. "Ya done? Listen you might think what I'm about to offer is just a one-time deal – It ain't. We need someone with your experience to oversee a group of individuals to oversee a highly classified secret. I want you on my staff. If you accept and your captain – by the way knows I'm here, you will be the head of a new taskforce assigned to protect that secret and you won't have to leave your family often." Jack nodded in the direction of the pictures of his children. "Listen kid, you think you know the world – you don't. This job will open your eyes in a way you never thought possible. Vala who recommended you, thinks you have the potential to be something brilliant and she got me to talk to the president about you. She believes in you that much and she has never done that –AT ALL outside of her team she thinks you can help the programme."

Jack put his card on the detective's desk. "Offer expires at midnight. I think you might enjoy being boss. I know I do." Jack smiled and got up out of his chair. "He turned and looked at Paul. "Paul, I know you are sitting there wondering why me? What is the point of this? The point is that we need someone who is able to protect more than just his precinct and why you? Well you have this amazing knack of doing it for family and friends. My friends put their lives on the line for that every day. They just know they can trust you to watch their backs when they come home." Jack smiled and left the room.

Paul was mystified by that little speech. The General didn't seem to be the one for making huge speeches. The fact it was the raven haired woman who used to work in a diner had the ear of a general had him even more amazed, if a bit suspicious. His training as a police officer taught him to ask questions to find out. His own natural curiosity aside – what was he going to tell his kids? His wife? He looked at the card the general left him. On it was written two things a number and a message – your wife is okay with this. It was now up to him to make the choice. He lifted the phone and started dialling.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Stella was surprised that her husband was calling her at this time of the day. She was even more surprised that he was calling her from work. "Hiya honey, what's up?" She tucked her long brown hair behind her ears watching the children play in the garden from the kitchen window.

"Sweetheart, did you get any visitors today?" His voice was tense, concerned.

"No visitors Paul. I did get a call from a very nice general from the air force looking for you. He said something about a new job? He was very charming actually!" Stella heard her husband scowl. Obviously he wasn't having a good day. "He told me that you would have better working conditions and that you would get a promotion as head of a department. Sounds like it could be a good job hon. We might actually get to see you once in a while more often." She heard her husband take a deep breath like he was counting to ten and then repeating the process before he spoke.

"So you think I should take this new somewhat mysterious new job that you have absolutely no detail about." Paul's tone was cautious, careful. Stella knew what he was getting at. It didn't bother her anymore. As a police detectives wife there was so much her husband didn't tell her on a good day and so much that haunted his eyes when he went to bed at night. She just knew that this could be much better or worse. It was however, something she felt he might benefit from in the long run. This general had not told her much except that he would be better paid and that her husband had been admired and selected by the president himself for this role. He told her there was no one better for it. Plus they were getting behind in the mortgage and the extra money would help.

"Paul, honey, this job is a promotion and you don't talk about work anyway to me. You just come home and complain that you are tired and that it has been a rotten day. You have been doing that consistently now for the last two years. Maybe it is time to get out of the PD and into something that you might enjoy." She crossed her fingers as she heard him sigh again.

"Stella, I'll call you later. I have to talk to a general." Stella smiled as the phone clicked. They might actually be okay for once.

In his office, Paul let his shoulder slump in resignation. Stella was right. In the last two years he had lost his love for the job he was doing. He had seen so much crime go unpunished and there was nothing he could do about it. He stared at the card that General O'Neill had left in front of him like it was a dragon or some evil demon he had to conquer. What was it about this job that had him so curious? He had forgotten what that was –simple and honest to goodness curiosity. He picked up the card and dialled. The general answered.

"Paul, car is waiting outside. It'll take you to Cheyenne Mountain. Vala will meet you there. She's really looking forward to seeing you again! Just to warn you she can be …. a little enthusiastic about things. So watch yourself! Talk to you soon when I see you in Washington. Your final paperwork needs to be done at the mountain. I'll see you there later. I have a friend to check in on." The phone clicked. Paul looked about him stunned. How did he know he was going to accept? Then he thought about it for a second. He realised that if he was going to refuse he would not have called. General O'Neill seemed to have known that about him and had planned accordingly. He stood up and switched off his computer. Paul looked at his desk. It was covered in files and reports. He briefly thought about tidying it but instead lifted his coat and mug and walked out the door. He nodded to the guys in the squad room and didn't look back.

Cameron stood by the car outside the police station in what he jokingly referred to as his 'monkey suit'. He was dressed in his air force blues waiting on Detective Ryan. He had been ordered there by General O'Neill and he wanted to ensure that he stuck out like a sore thumb in this busy street. After the Generals visit 2 hours ago, Cameron had arrived about 30 minutes after that and had alternated between reading in his air force car pool car to walking around it. He hoped the guy would take the role. He was counting on it for his team's sake. He saw the detective walk out of the precinct and he honked the horn. Detective Ryan looked mildly surprised to see him. He waved him over and got in the car. The detective got in and they drove to the mountain in silence.

Vala had been sitting with Daniel for over an hour and he had fallen asleep in the last ten minutes. His throat was still sore from having the tube in and she banned him from talking much until it felt better. In the times when he had been sleeping she had been gathering all the information she had about what had happened. The text she had received on her phone, the flowers, the note and her ipod. The SF's had been following evidentiary procedure and had catalogued all the evidence. Vala had been adding context to that evidence based upon her background in the form of a report. Jack was due in soon to take over the watch with Daniel and he had also sent word ahead that Cameron should be arriving soon with Detective Ryan. She smiled grimly. Whoever this 'person' was would soon be in for a shock. She didn't tolerate anyone attacking her family. What was worse was that she suspected some form of snake in the grass and it was time to get rid of it. She kissed Daniel on the forehead and made her way to the main conference room. It was time to get this over with.

Paul hung his newly minted ID badge on his neck and stared around him. He had so often wondered why the air force had this mountain and now he was going to find out. The Colonel next to him only spoke to say he was here and that he was to call him Cam. The journey into the mountain seemed to take an age. He felt like he was constantly falling between the two elevators and the mass of hallway and people didn't help either. There was a buzz about this place he wasn't expecting. People seemed to be expecting something to happen whilst getting on with their work at the same time. He was led into a long room with a window that seemed to be covered in steel. There were men standing guard off to one side and he noticed a taller older man with brown hair and who had a distinct air of authority on him emerged from a small office behind the conference table. The window of that one office seemed to look like a map of some kind. He turned and looked behind him. Vala Mal Doran stood in front of a large pendant with the letters SGC and two flags at either side with her arms crossed and a smile on her face. On a long wooden table in front of them sat a pile of papers and boxes. Paul didn't know which way to look first. His head was spinning – what exactly was going on here?

Vala skipped over and pumped the detective's hand. "Nice to see you again Detective Ryan! I knew you wouldn't be able to say no." The Colonel shook his head and chuckled.

"Princess, would ya let the guy sit down. Poor guy doesn't know what's goin' on right now. Detective Ryan, I'd like to introduce you to General Hank Landry. He's the leader here at the SGC. I think you are going to want to sit down. This is going to be a real head melter." Cameron's face seemed sympathetic, like he had experienced something like this himself.

General Landry spoke up. "Before we brief Mr Ryan on the whole situation I need him to finish the paperwork. Vala, whilst I can appreciate you might have a lot to tell the new head of the Field Operations Division, I would appreciate if you could come back in about half an hour? I just want to give the man time to sign all the necessary paperwork." Vala pouted but sat down. The general just rolled his eyes. To Paul this seemed like a normal day to them. It was the letters on the wall that had him curious –SGC? What did it stand for? He had to know. Paul looked at the stack of papers he had to sign and frowned. 'Well, if this gets me what I want to know?" He lifted the pen in front of him and listened carefully to the General as he went through each form.

Three hours later Paul was ready to call for a psychologist. He had been told about the Stargate. They had lifted the steel from the window in front of him and he had watched as one team appeared from nowhere through the big blue puddle as they arrived back from a mission. The way the gate exploded out in front of him had scared him more than he had ever been and then to find out that the woman sitting opposite you was not human? Paul wanted to run and hide. This was too much! Far too much! Cameron and the General looked at the poor man in sympathy as if they had understood his reaction all too well. This was the secret he had to protect? Pauls' head swam and he felt dizzy. He put his head in his arms and passed out.

Cameron looked at the man who had fallen out of his chair in sympathy. "Well that went well." General Landry gave him an annoyed look. Clearly sarcasm was not a good idea right now. General Landry went into his office and called for a medical team. The rest of the briefing was going to have to wait. Vala frowned. "Excuse me Sir, permission to head back to the infirmary? I'll let you know when he wakens up." The general nodded. She nodded to Cameron and headed back to her bedside vigil along with her watchdog SF. Cameron hadn't noticed him walking beside her. He followed Vala after being dismissed by the General. As soon as she arrived at the infirmary he headed towards his office. The paperwork wouldn't wait forever. He sighed.

Paul woke up in a bed in some kind of hospital. There was an Asian lady in a nurse's uniform hovering near a bed he lay on. When she saw he was awake she walked away towards a small office. He was confused as to where he was until he remembered. He flushed with embarrassment. He fainted during a meeting. This was not a good impression to make on your first day in a new job! He lifted himself up into a sitting position. Two beds over lay the doctor guy he had met a few days ago and Vala sitting quietly by his side. They were talking quietly. It was interesting to watch them as they said a lot more when they weren't speaking in terms of looks or quirks of the head than when they were verbally communicating. The doctor looked worse than he had when he last saw him and the worry on Vala's face was very evident. He'd never seen anything quite like it before. A stern young doctor came over who looked to be of mixed descent. She spoke to him about what happened and checked him over. He listened to her nodding in all the right places.

He felt someone watching him throughout all this and realised it was the doctor two beds over. The doctor leaned in kissed Vala and whispered something to her. She frowned but got up and left. Once the doctor agreed that the SF could lead him back to the conference room the doctor beckoned him over. Paul walked over to his bedside indicating to his guide that he would be a couple of minutes. The SF looked to Doctor Jackson who smiled and he nodded.

Daniel looked at the former police detective in a mixture of sympathy and pride. He knew that Vala would get her way if she wanted. He was glad that her idea was given some credence. "So, I hear you've had a bit of a shock." Daniels voice was rough still. The detective nodded. Daniel stuck out his hand "I'm Daniel" Paul looked at him and shook his hand.

"Paul. Daniel what's going on here – am I going mad?" Daniel smiled. He lay back in his bed and closed his eyes for a moment. He was getting tired again. Stupid medications! He opened his eyes and smirked. "Paul, when I came here over 14 years ago, people wrote me off as being crazy for my ideas. My whole academic peer group still think I'm fruit looped but ya know I don't care anymore. Einstein once asked "Is it me or the others who are crazy". When I helped to open the Stargate, my life became a whirlwind of crazy – still is, especially with Vala. She is the one thing that makes this place for me. Someone here had decided that she is something to be owned – possessed. That's not her. You can't pin her down. So yeah, if this place feels crazy to you then let it be. After fighting in two wars and going to visit I don't know how many planets now, crazy has become a way of life for all of us. Just hear them out and enjoy it! You'll be surprised what can happen to yourself here Paul. If you need to talk or need help you will find me in my office usually that is if I can get out of here! I'll be happy to talk to you." Daniel looked at the SF who was starting to indicate towards his watch discreetly. "You'd better go – the General is waiting." Paul stood back from Daniels bed. His head started to spin again. How had this seemly quiet man fought two wars? This place was too much but he had a feeling he had only scratched the surface.

Somewhere in the private quarters of the staff of the SGC, the shadow began to look at his social networking page for the past month. He had pictures of her and it was pleasing to look at. He looked at them. There were one's of Vala shopping, out for a meal, out with her team or walking in the park with four eyes. The title of the page stated simply 'Have you seen my love today?' He smiled and clicked on the latest uploads.


	12. Chapter 11

A/N: first posting didn't sit right with me so I made it better. Plus there were some mistakes I noticed on reread.

Chapter 11

Paul Ryan was not heading in the direction he thought he was going. He had expected to be taken directly back to the big conference room. Instead his guide took him to what appeared to be a quartermaster's office where he was asked for his size. He was given over a pile of clothes and a pair of standard issue army style boots. Paul then was escorted to an empty locker room and politely asked to change. He stared at the uniform. The cargo trousers and jacket were blue with a black t-shirt. That in itself was not strange to Paul. Like most officers he started out in uniform within the police. It was the patches he couldn't take his eyes off. The first one was a match for medallion with he had seen Vala stand in front of that included when he arrived with the addition of a bottomless triangle. It was the second one that really caught his attention. It was the image of earth covered again with this bottomless triangle like having an image of the planet was meant to stand for something. Like this was the most precious part of who these people are. When he appeared 10 minutes later the guide gave him a locker key and he put his stuff away. He was told that he needed to change again before he left the base.

His guide looked him up and down with approval. "We have to go sir, the general's waiting. He just wanted to be sure that no one would stop you in anyway. No one wears civvies down here normally. Only those going off duty, Vala or General O'Neill would be going near the areas you would such as the control room, canteen and labs etc. I suggested to him that we made sure that you were dressed for the SGC. So you could work in peace and no one would identify you as being any different. All of the civilians wear these anyway except for the scientists." Paul looked at the man. He was about five foot with blond sandy hair and hazel eyes. He carried himself with a quiet air of confidence. He was curious how someone like this ended up doing this kind of job. Again, he realised that simple curiosity was raising its head again.

"What's your name soldier?" Paul enquired.

"Airman." The guide corrected. "My name is Sargent Adam Mason. Why'd ya wanna know?" He led them to the elevator and slid his card in the reader.

"Habit I s'pose. I just don't like people being faceless individuals and I like to know who is who in any place. Part of why I became a cop. Changing victims from nameless faces on a board and putting a name to the person who has committed a crime. Why'd you join the air force?" The elevator arrived and they stepped in.

"Besides serving my country? I wanted to make a change in my life and others. Found that working security meant that I could watch the backs of those who went and did those who protected the country on a day to day basis. Here it means I can help the off world teams have somewhere they can do their job without someone stabbing them in the back." Adam sighed. "These past few days have been the worst. We all love Vala and Doctor Jackson. They make this place interesting. Vala's a real firecracker sir. She makes the bad days seem better especially if you hear her tease Doctor Jackson. She can really make him even blush long before they got together as a couple. When the two of them have an argument, it can be really funny but stay clear of both of them. It can be lethal for whoever encounters either one of them in the aftermath. Doctor Jackson is also the one person who made this place work. He will do just about anything to help a person without worrying about who they are or what their background is – so begging your pardon Sir, if he's offered you help then you can be sure of no hidden agenda with him. SG-1 as a team will back any of us up all the way including the SF's when there's a problem on the base."

Paul listened to the Sargent with interest. This was useful to know and the man seemed happy to talk. "Sounds like you admire them." His tone was cautious, careful. He was new in this crazy place and he didn't want to rock the boat. He also was getting free information about those he was going to work for and he wasn't going to pass the opportunity to learn more.

"If you speak to a lot of people here you'll find that we all do. So the fact that someone has just hurt Doctor Jackson does not bode well for the person that has done it. The fact they have picked on Vala first as well means that it's going to be bad news. I figure that's why General O'Neill wants you here - someone with a clear head to sort it all out." Adam nodded his head with certainty, as if the statement he just made was a given fact and the base would accept it as so. Paul was in no doubt that if the SF was talking about this to him then there was little chance that the rest of the base would be hearing about him soon enough meaning it would be hard to maintain a low profile – but a low profile for what? He still had no idea why he was even here. Adam had given him some clues but nothing more than that. The doors of the elevator opened and Adam led the way to the conference room where the general was waiting.

Three hours and multiple cups of coffee later Paul was ready to get started. Of all the things he had learned the main points he found were:

Vala had picked up a stalker

He had left a few flowers related to her time as Qetesh (whoever she was!)

Said stalker had attacked Doctor Daniel Jackson in his lab with snake venom in a syringe

No evidence of this guy had been recorded on the video cassettes

This guy had access to computer systems on the base – especially Valas.

This was a rapid escalation and was likely to get very dangerous.

What amazed Paul is the fact that he had no clue as to why they had not begun a much more detailed investigation. He asked the general. General Landry leaned back and looked at him speculatively. "Mr Ryan, my SF's has some experience of dealing with various levels of crime on this base. Mostly our concerns are alien in nature and as such we don't often deal with the human element – which is a cryin' shame. This is why we brought you in. Your experience with human nature on earth is much more realistic and you have dealt with crime on a daily basis in a way that none of us have. We have worked using our skills to a certain level but we are not specialised enough to handle situations such as this. In fact we are very lucky we haven't had to in the past. Sargent Mason will be serving as your liaison and assistant. He will be the only one who knows that you are here for Vala. He's trustworthy and he has been one of two most trusted men looking after her. Feel free to speak to anyone without my say so and Doctor Jackson has given you permission to work within his office. That way no one will question what you are doing here. People tend to flow in and out of there all the time so it will give you an ideal base to try and speak to them without too many people asking why. That's all of it for now. We'll speak again in the morning. You will receive your identification badge and card for all areas in the morning. Jack was very clear that you should have full access and you will be cleared for that in the morning. I believe you have a family to get home to." Paul nodded and lifted the pen and pad from the table in front of him. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. He looked at his watch. It was nearly 7pm. It was time to try and get home. He hadn't a clue what he was going to say to Stella and the kids.

Vala stared out the window of Daniels house. She had to go back and pick him up in a couple of hours but she wanted some time for herself and those on the base wouldn't leave her be. She'd managed to slip out of one of the external stair hatches up to the surface. Hopefully they'd check with her in about an hour. She just needed to be someplace by herself. The cup of coffee she held in her hands went cold ages ago.

In her mind she drifted and remembered. Alyssa was one of those who had been in the thief business along with her. She had met her once or twice and they'd got on as much as thieves could get on. Alyssa had caught the eye of one of Netans lieutenants and he had hounded her on every planet and every job she had gone on. What eventually happened was that Alyssa being the type to not take this kind of behaviour confronted her stalker. He had killed her for it because she had said no to him. No one said to an Alliance Lieutenant. She never got his name but the story was spread out amongst the thieves in the galaxy as a warning to heed the rule of the Lucien Alliance if you wanted to do business.

Her cell phone went and she jumped. She should really check herself. "Vala! Vala!" It was Daniel. Darn efficient SF's. She had been busted early. She forced a smile on her face so he would think she was okay. Even a smile could be heard on the phone (so the television told her).

"Darling! Whats wrong? Have I been naughty? Better yet have I not?" Her tone was light, teasing. She heard Daniel sigh. He was worried. He had at least 15 different ways of saying her name and each one expressed a feeling for what he wanted to say to her. This one was _I'm so gonna kill you for scaring me!_

"Vaaalaa! Where are you?" She returned his sigh.

"I'm at your house. I was trying to get ten minutes to breathe without a watchdog hanging over me. Honestly Daniel, I know you all love me, especially you, but darling I wanted to try and get some space away from all of this. Where are you anyway? I thought you were supposed to be in the infirmary?" Her tone was slightly exasperated at his over protectiveness of her – she was not a child!

"Carolyn released me about an hour ago and I was looking for you to drive me home. Mitchell and I will be with you in 10 minutes. Stay in the house Vala!" He lowered his voice "I want to catch up on a few things with you. Perhaps start with an apology and go from there?" Vala smiled for real. Yep she was in sooo much trouble – the good kind! "I'll get the glasses and a wine bottle out! See you in 10 minutes!" She squealed. Daniel was coming home and that she didn't want to miss. He rphone went again and she realised he might've had something else to tell her.

"Darling? Now it's only going to be 10 minutes till you see me. You don't have to be that keen" Her tone was light and playful.

"Not unless I see you first." The voice was distorted and cold – definitely not Daniels "It is after all you Vala that I trust. Kisses Darling" the phone clicked and Vala's knees gave way. She pulled them up to her chin and she stayed there for some time. Daniel and Mitchell found her and had to force her to stand. They couldn't get her to speak for 15 minutes. She just stared out at the wall. She was not used to fear –at least fear she couldn't control. This was definitely getting more out of control. She felt that someone had taken something from her that was preciously hers. She couldn't stand another thief on her patch. When she found her voice she also found some of her spirit. "Mitchell, get me Mr Ryan. It's time we took this piece of crap out once and for all." Cameron took one look at the dangerous flash she had in her eyes and dialled. He was not messing with her when she got this mad. Once she had said this she slumped into Daniels ready arms. She was getting tired of this. Time to fight back and put an end to it - one way or another.


	13. Chapter 12

Paul woke to sound of his telephone ringing. 'So begins my next headache. First the phone call then the wife nagging me about said phone call.' When he arrived home he had sat down with his wife and had to give her the cover story. He was now a fully paid private security consultant for the Air Force and he was required to quit the police that day and start immediately as one of the civilian consultants was having difficulties which only he could deal with. She seemed content with the explanation and they'd went on to have a nice family evening together. Something he hadn't seen much of recently. This phone call was not what he was expecting. He'd got an early night and was enjoying the luxury of time with his wife. So this had definitely put a damper on things.

Paul had been given the address of Daniel's house and arrived there within the hour. He asked Colonel Mitchell to contact Sargent Mason as he wanted him involved from the beginning. The stalker had made contact with Vala which meant things were going to get even more risky from here on in. Vala was sitting next to Daniel on his couch in Daniel's living room. She was leaning into Daniel and he in return seemed to be keeping his eyes fixed firmly on her. It was as if they were holding each other together – the world could go hang from all appearances. They were doing their freaky nonverbal conversation thing again. Daniel occasionally ran his hand through Vala's hair tucking non-existent loose strands behind her ear.

Paul knew this could get tricky so he wanted to get Vala by herself. He found that couples sometimes found it harder to be honest in front of the 'other half'. He needed to find the starting point and he needed to know who exactly this woman was. She was central to all of this and could be the start to solving it. He got Adam to do a sweep around the house and then to make a few discreet calls to the cell company to see if they could track where the call came from. Apparently his powers for looking things up just got a bit more powerful he'd discovered from Colonel Mitchell. No need to wait in line ahead of other policemen!

Paul stepped up to Colonel Mitchell who was standing in the hall behind the living room and asked him to distract Daniel for a little while. "Jackson – leave Vala? It'd take a naquada bomb to separate those two. Where one goes, the other won't be far behind. Sorry bud, you're on your own with that one! It's just the way they are. The way they've always been." Cameron's look was sympathetic and that annoyed Paul.

"Gee, Colonel does that mean you have them surgically attached to one another when you all go do….." Paul had to search about for his next words "….whatever it is you people do when you go through that ring thing. Come on Colonel! Think about it! I need Vala to talk to me and having Daniel around her will not help me at this moment in time." The frustration in Pauls face was evident and Cameron could see that he was going to have to get Jackson away from his girlfriend.

It was in that moment that a hand dropped onto Paul's shoulder and Daniel appeared behind them. No one had seen him leave her side. "Paul, I heard what you had to say and don't worry. Vala asked for you. She doesn't ask for help readily which means she trusts you – and that says a lot. I'm sure Jack or General O'Neill may have told you that. So I'll wait out of the way but I already know a lot about her. Just promise me that you will help her catch this guy. She may show you a front but she is keen to help. Just don't be ready for fall for the 'I'm okay' routine." Daniel smiled sadly. Once that got out he'd be a dead man with Vala. She didn't like anyone thinking of her as vulnerable and he just told the detective she was. 'Yep! Imma dead man' thought Daniel. He walked off down the hall to his own private office to let the detective do his job otherwise if he stayed he'd be killed by her for the other overprotective side of him that he had he pulled any other time. She sort of hated it from time to time.

Adam put down his mobile. He'd got a lead about the call but it wasn't what he thought it would be. The call had originated from a prepaid cell phone which used internet voice over protocols (VOIP). That in itself was a dead end. However, he did find out that the same VOIP phone connected to a number of WIFI spots in areas not far from and including Cheyenne Mountain. He made a note of these spots and went to join Paul (as he insisted he call him). Colonel Mitchell was standing outside the door of Doctor Jackson's living room and he saw Adam. He caught his eye and shook his head in a silent warning. He got it. Paul wanted to talk to her alone. "Where's Doctor Jackson Sir?" Adam whispered.

"He'll be in his office. Wouldn't advise ya disturbing him. He'll be stayin' in there to allow Mr Ryan a chance to work. He cares enough to stay outta Vala's way. He's coping the only way he knows how - work. This has really shaken them both up" stated Colonel Mitchell.

"Yes Sir. I'll leave him be." Responded Adam.

When Paul walked into the living room, Vala was sipping on a warm cup of coffee which he had seen sitting in front of her. She was sitting in the edge of the sofa with her legs tucked underneath her. She'd pulled the red throw over her lap. She raised her head in acknowledgement. "Mr Ryan, nice to see you! Sorry it wasn't to bring you over here for wine and dinner. I had hoped that I'd be getting into a compromising position with Daniel but this wasn't what I had in mind."

Paul looked incredulous. How could she make a comment about her partner like that? "Do you always do that?" he asked.

"Do what Mr Ryan?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Make sexual innuendo or flirt. Do you always do that?" He reiterated the question again. Vala tried to shift her body to a full sitting position as if preparing for war. Paul could see her mind trying for a few different responses. He beat her to it. "Daniel and General O'Neill said you asked for me. Why is that if all you are going to do is try and give me half assed answers before I've even asked any questions? Daniel told me you that you like to front. Is that true – or am I just wasting time here?" He saw his face darken with anger and a few words which he assumed were curses in a very strange language. He suddenly felt very sorry for Daniel. He wouldn't want to be on the bad side of that lady tonight.

"Daniel knows fine well that I would and the fact he told you means that I'm going to kick his boney mitka when we're done – no matter how tight it is" Paul had to smile at that. He could kind of guess what a mitka was and the fact that she was gunning for Daniels was even more amusing. "I guess Vala he wanted you to know that you need to trust me now if you want to get this sorted." She grimaced at that. "So who are you Vala Mal Doran? I know you are alien and I know you work at the SGC but other than that –who are you because whoever this guy is he has picked you out because of it." Again Vala winced. She indicated to the seat next her and he sat down.

"What do you know about the galaxy outside of earth detective? – and yes I will call you your old title for a reason." She looked him square in the eye. She knew he only found out that there was a larger galaxy today. He didn't answer her so she continued. "The day I met the Taur'i (for that is what your people are called out there), the day I met Daniel…." She drifted off and smiled shyly which surprised Paul. For such a mystery of a woman – being shy was not something he'd factored into her make up. She took a deep breath. "I can give you a reason as to why you never trusted me and possibly still may not. A policeman or cop always recognises his opposite do they not? The day I met Daniel was the day I tried to steal the spaceship called the Prometheus which he was travelling on along with the SGC crew."

She paused watching the Pauls reaction. He was again surprised but not astounded by her revelation. All the years on his job made it easier, not easy, to spot someone who may have the possibility for criminal tendencies. He recognised the truth in her statement. "I was impressed by Daniel, even when he got the ship back he treated me with some level of dignity and respect. The most amazing thing was his loyalty to his friends. I'd never seen that before. When I arrived at the SGC for the first time I was completely outrageous in my flirtation with him. I still was up to the point that he told me he loved me. Do you know how that feels detective – to be offered dignity first and then love? This is my home now and someone is determined that I should not be allowed my peace with my Daniel. Does that explain my behaviour to you detective or do you want more?" She crossed her arms defiantly.

Paul considered his next words and questions carefully. "I'm sorry Vala but I want more information. From what I can tell this guy has dug deep into your past and selected your boyfriend as target number one in his campaign to hurt those you love in order to get your attention. He has, I suspect, some way of tracking your habits and your life. I need to dig into that life if I am going to catch this guy. Can you explain to me who Qetesh is and why he might be using things connected to her."

For the next hour Vala went into the Goa'uld and her life as a host to Qetesh in as brief detail as she could get away with. She spoke about the flowers and the snake venom and what they meant as part of Qetesh. "I think it's the fact that Qetesh is a sex goddess has got this guy. She was pretty ruthless in the way she used her status and her lovers. He probably thinks I still retained some of that in the way I flirt with people. I don't. Daniel is the only man I have any desire to be with in that way. Even then we are taking our time with it. We've both been burnt enough." She shook her head as if trying to hold back tears. Paul reached over and placed his hand on hers. His dark brown eyes were sympathising. He was surprised by this woman's strength of mind. She didn't lift her head but she did put her other hand on top of his in acknowledgement. Paul looked at his watch. It was 2am. He needed to go home and mull some of this information over. He also wanted to question her with a fresh head.

"Vala, where do you think you may have met this guy?" asked Paul.

"I've been thinking about that. You see Paul up until about 3 to 4 months ago I wasn't really allowed to leave the base at all without a member of SG-1. It's kinda connected to how you and I first met. Long story for another time – I think. I have been living mostly on base. Daniel and I have been dating for about 6 months and I have been spending some of my 'weekends' or downtime here either with Daniel or by myself. We both don't always go off world together - that's what we call trips through the 'gate – and that has only been in the last 2 months since he bought the house. I tend to come here because it's secure and Daniel has given me a key. I'm free to come and go here. Oh! I also have been going to Area 51 for the last 7 months. The first time there I went to watch the SF's demonstrate some cool new Asgard weaponry. Cameron and Teal'c were with me because that was at a time when I still couldn't leave without an escort. Oh Mr Ryan you have so much to learn! You are going love it!" Vala's sudden perkiness came as a surprise to Paul but then General O'Neill did warn him she got very enthusiastic.

"Vala – what's Area 51? I mean I know the conspiracy theories but can you tell me what exactly it is and how you are related to it?" Paul felt his curiosity rise in him again. Vala brightened at this topic. She smiled a megawatt smile and Paul could see what drew Daniel to her. He yawned and looked at his watch. "On second thoughts Vala, hold that thought. It's getting into the early morning and I think that we both need to get some sleep. I'm getting tired and my wife is going to kill me if I don't get back to her." Vala's eyes widened slightly at that comment. She never considered a stern policeman being afraid of his wife before. The whole idea was something she'd never even considered. She smiled again this time it had a sly edge to it.

"Oh Mr Ryan, I'm guessing you want to go home and play bad cop this morning? You're wife and I really should meet sometime!" Paul didn't know where to look at that statement.

"Vala, ease up and leave the man be" Her eyes flashed up to the new speaker and darkened as Daniel stepped into the room. Daniel balked at the look she gave him and she stood up seductively.

"Why Doctor Daniel Jackson - am I a bad girl?" Daniel flushed at that, put his hands in his pockets, shifted his feet and looked down to the floor. It wasn't what she had said so much but the way she said it. Daniel to Paul looked very nervous. He recognised a fellow male in trouble but decided that was his cue to beat it. He noticed that asides from a very bored Adam there was no one else in the house.

Daniel had noticed the Paul look around him. "Cam has taken one of the spare bedrooms to get some sleep. There's no point in him leaving now. Adam is welcome to take the other until he has to begin his shift for the morning. General Landry will probably want to speak to you again then. I'm guessing you have to go home. Right?"

"Yeah Daniel, my wife is probably wondering what's keeping me into the small hours. I'll speak to Vala here again in the late morning. Night then" Paul nodded to both of them and left.

Vala rounded on Daniel and before she could yell at him he kissed her. He had missed her these last few days and he had made her mad. Vala broke it before it got any more heated and slapped his cheek. "Ow! I'm said I'm sorry" He rubbed the sore spot on his cheek where Vala had slapped him.

"No, you kissed me. Tonsil hockey doesn't constitute as an apology Daniel. You should know that! You should also know that I didn't appreciate you telling Mr Ryan that I liked to put a front up around people. Sometimes you make me so mad. I don't let people draw conclusions about you based on what someone else has told them so don't you dare do it for me!" Vala's eyes blazed with hurt and Daniel could see that. He reached his hand over to her cheek and stroked it.

"I am very sorry Vala. I guess I wanted to ensure that he got you talking straight away but I should have kept my mouth shut and trusted you more with that."

"Yes you should!" Vala pouted. "Now how about a proper hello?" Daniel smiled and kissed her again. Not much else was said after that for a while.


	14. Chapter 13

A/N: Sorry for the delay on this chapter. Got a serious case of writers block on this!

Chapter 13

There is something to be said for the fresh light of morning. It is a sweet mix of hope or despair or sometimes the best part of the day. The fact that Daniel woke up with Vala in his arms happened to be one of those moments. They'd crawled into bed both exhausted by the early morning departure of Paul Ryan. This whole mess was slowly becoming exhausting in its own right. Daniel held Vala and watched her sleep. He was always amazed by her. Her strength of spirit was always something to behold. It's just that these days Vala actually acknowledged when something was hurting her but it didn't mean she had lost any of her fight to be alive. He thought in fact it made her stronger to be something other than the shut off person she used to be. Through her vitality Daniel himself acknowledged that Vala made him also acknowledge that he had a right to be alive. Their relationship allowed for the two of them to shore up their flagging aspects of their lives and be the best part of themselves that they had once lost. He sighed and kissed her head and continued to watch her. The world and its worries could wait. Give him this for now and he could be happy.

Paul woke later than he expected around 10 am. His wife had shaken him awake and placed a cup of coffee on the nightstand next to him. She wasn't surprised when he rolled in around 3am. She just asked if everything was going okay and for once he could say that it was. Stella had simply smiled and rolled back to sleep. He dreamed that night about glowing eyes and strange people causing much pain over the universe. When he pulled himself out of bed, he called the base and apologised to General Landry. He advised him of the incident from the night before and stated that Adam was at Doctor Jacksons. He felt that from now on Doctor Jackson and Vala may be better away from the base for their own security with Adam as a house guest until this was solved. The General agreed with him and asked that he be kept him apprised of the situation.

Today was going to be another day of exhaustive interviewing with Vala. He did however want to drop into his teenage daughter's room and see her before he did anything else. "Hey kiddo what are you up to?" His daughter Ali's curly hair swirled around as she turned to face him from her desk where laptop sat and her chocolate brown eyes rolled. "Daaad! Don't you ever knock?" She threw her hands up in an exasperated sigh! "Parents! Honestly you should be house trained or something. Can't a girl get some privacy anymore?" She turned back to her computer and began to tune Paul out. Paul stepped up and looked over her shoulder at the website she was browsing on. "So," Paul began. "Whatcha doin'?" Ali gave him her patented 'gimme a break!' shrug of the shoulders and tried to sound enthusiastic. "Dad it's a networking site – ya know – people get together and challenge other people to do crazy things. This one is quite popular cos you have to post as many pictures as you can. Kinda like a treasure hunt – 'cept you are challenged with the first picture and you have'ta ya know, add more to it. The page with the longest is declared the winner. Most pages also encourage comments and chat on it. She clicked on one called 'Have you…?' There was lists like have you seen my dog? Or have you seen this car? Paul smiled and shook his head eyes closed. People really did have nothing better to do some days other than come up with crazy lists. His daughter clicked on one that sounded interesting – 'have you seen my love?' She giggled.

"Daaad have you seen this? Someone's out looking for a girl and has got loadsa hits on it. She's really pretty but have you seen the geeky guy that's with her in some of them?" Paul turned his attention back to the computer. He realised he had tuned out for a moment. He shuddered. On the list were multiple pictures of Vala Mal Doran and Doctor Daniel Jackson. His mouth went dry and he reached for his Ali's laptop pulling at the lead and the plug. "Dad! I was using that! MOOOOOM! Daddy's taking my computer. Tell him to give it back!" Paul heard Stella come into the room with a frustrated growl. He could tell she really wasn't in the mood for this. He looked to each of them. "Stell, it's important. I promise. Ali, I'm sorry love. I will make it up to you this evening with a little treat." Both women folded their arms and he had a feeling that he had some major making up to do when he got home. "Ali, sweetheart, I will let you order Pizza this evening and you can choose the movie. I'll even watch the Twilight Series with you." Ali's face brightened at that. He sighed inwardly – he hated those movies. "Thank you Dad!" His wife smiled. Peace was restored to the world – at least his was. He reached for the cell phone and began to make calls.

When Paul arrived into Daniels house there was an air of seriousness that Daniel had noticed straight away. He'd left Vala to get ready upstairs and had directed Paul into his private study. It wasn't what the detective expected. The back wall was one massive mahogany bookcase with glass panel doors across them. The side wall was a panel of glass that let the light shine through making the room appear large and airy. There were two soft chairs sitting next to the window and a desk sat tucked into the corner overlooking the garden with a fancy laptop perched on it. The desk was covered in papers and the room had a few small archaeological artefacts from various parts of the world and some that Paul couldn't begin to identify. Daniel offered Paul a seat noting the laptop he carried with him. "Please, tell me." The tone in Daniels voice was not demanding just pleading. Paul wanted Vala to see this but he decided that Daniel had a right to know as well. "Daniel my daughter was surfing online this morning and she came across this website. I just want you to see this first. Maybe then you can help me add to the list of calls I've already made." Paul reached across and handed Daniel an open laptop with a website page sitting open. Pictures of Vala and Daniel flitted across the screen.

Daniel's first reaction was 'this has got to be a joke' then disbelief then fear. They had been compromised and not by some secret agency but by people who weren't any the wiser as to whom they were taking pictures of. He looked at the photographs and realised that this would hurt Vala. She had started to get a sense of security about living off base. Athena was still out there but at least she had her independence. This could force her back to the base and the IOA would delight in doing so. It had taken a fight using all of Jack's contacts and some of Daniels to get her privileges to live off base. If he didn't tell her and she found out?

"Paul, I am very tempted to take this laptop and hide it from Vala. I love her and I want her to be safe. I'm sick to my stomach that this guy thinks he calls her 'his love' but I'm willing to bet that this could be his first mistake. The fall out of this though could be costly for both Vala and I." Paul looked at Daniel with a quizzical look. Daniel realised that Paul had a lot to learn about the stargate programme. He suddenly felt a deep sympathy for him. The implications needed to be explained and he would have to get more involved so he could help Paul catch this guy.

Daniel straightened himself up in his chair feeling very tense and nervous. "There is a civilian organisation that oversees a lot of the SGC funding called the International Oversight Advisory. They haven't been too sympathetic to Vala and sometimes me over the past few years she has been here. I had to fight hard to get her off the base and into this house. If they saw this it could be the end of that and Vala would have to go back to signing out and living on base again." Daniel took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "This could hurt her deeply though she'd never show it. I want to say hide the pictures but I won't. Show them to her but please let me tell her? I want to help." Paul looked at Daniel with some respect. He would've hidden these had it been Stella but this man was willing to risk it with Vala. There was another tense silence. Paul nodded.

After another long silence there was a knock on the door and both men jumped slightly. "Daniel?"

"In here Vala." Vala walked slowly into the room dressed in charcoal sweatpants and a powder blue t-shirt. Daniel thought she never looked more beautiful. She nodded to Paul and walked over and not so chastely kissed Daniel good morning. Paul suddenly felt the need to stand and look at Daniel's books. He heard her stop and whisper "good morning" in Daniels ear. Daniel kissed her cheek and returned the sentiment. She sat in his lap and cuddled into his chest. "Sorry to embarrass you Paul. I just love mornings here with my Daniel. We have to behave on base so much of the time that it is simply nice to relax with him." Paul listened to her voice and there was a purr in her voice like a cat with her cream but there was a sincerity there that just lay below the surface.

"Daniel, what has the good detective told you that has you all serious this morning?" Vala had read the tension in Daniels frame. He couldn't hide it from her. They had learned to read each other better the closer they had become. "Vala, come over to my desk and let me show you something. Give me a minute I'll need to move some stuff here." Vala snorted. She knew exactly how much stuff was on his desk. "Daniel, darling you'll need more than a minute. Paul you need to take a seat – he could be a while." Daniel shot Vala a look of mock indignation but that lasted a minute. She smirked. He rolled his eyes but the tension in him remained.

He sat her down on the plush leather desk chair and Paul set down the laptop. Vala looked at the pictures and stiffened slightly. She read the caption. Then she did something that Daniel didn't expect. She began to click on the pictures and read the comments below. "OOOh Daniel! Wait till you hear this one – it's about the two of us. Apparently this girl thinks you're dreamy and she wishes she were me so she could try you out. Well I wouldn't argue about that one! I get to try you out on a frequent basis! Oooh, here's another!" She clicked onto a different picture of the two of them having a picnic in the park. Daniel appeared to be very focussed on Vala. She smiled at that. "This one says that they wish that they had someone like you!" Daniel sighed and shook his head. He had been worried about this but she seemed to be taking her hyper approach. "Vala?" _Why are you not more worried about this?_ He'd used another of his name tones.

"Daniel, what am I supposed to think? Yes I know what this could mean. Yes I know that we could be split because of it and that the IOA could cause us problems. The only logical thing I can do besides worry is to work on catching this guy out." Vala looked directly into his eyes and caressed his cheek not caring that they had company. "We need to get on with our lives Daniel. I am not about to let someone dictate that. I didn't before you – why should that change?" His blue eyes were a mix of worry, concern and pride. Pride in her. He nodded. She looked to the detective who had once again turned his attention back to the couple. "Paul, I believe that I had an appointment with you to go over aspects of my life. Now would be as good a time as any. I'll join you in the living room in a minute. Daniel, the coffee is on and I believe you have some photos to look at don't you?" He groaned. Vala heard Paul go out of the door and she then kissed Daniel quickly and not so chastely again. "I'll come join you when I'm finished with Paul, Daniel. I want you to look at these and find a timeline or a commentary that may lead us to the person trying to split us up." With that Vala kissed him one last time and left the study. She smiled as she walked out of the study and heard Daniel quietly murmur "Yes boss. Can I have a coffee with that side of bossiness?"


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"When people see me there is often many assumptions made. Many view me as a thief, vixen, pirate or minx. They very rarely see the other things that make up my personality. Men see me as something to be owned or seduced, or even hoping that I will seduce them. Women see me as competition, a prostitute to my own desires or even as something to be abhorred. At the SGC, I started out a trouble maker but they also saw something more. Daniel can be credited for a lot of that. He stuck his reputation and even his credibility on the line in order to get me accepted into the programme. Beyond him, for I do have a life beyond him despite appearances; I have been accepted by the scientists because they see I can provide them with out there solutions, the marines like me because I usually will spare with any of them (and win most often!) and I work consistently with the SF's. The SF's or security forces use me in my old skill capacity to train their guys in dealing with entry incursions, thefts, alien weapons training dealing with alien fighting styles, a number of training roles really. I primarily work with the science departments such as Daniel's and Sam's departments but I do work with the SF's one day a week depending on my workload. This would sometimes take me to our research and development base in Nevada which you will often hear us refer to as Area 51. I often will liaise with them when Sam is not on earth. Actually, since she has been in Atlantis that has been a lot recently."

Vala felt tired. She had been talking with Paul for nearly 3 hours. They had covered parts of her life before the SGC and her arrival. To his credit he had sat and listened only pausing once in a while for clarification. Vala had decided that she liked Paul Ryan because he acted as Daniel did and listened. He did have the tendency to jump to conclusions like the first time she met him when he'd assumed she had been lying to him about her amnesia but she felt she could soon train that out of him.

Paul looked at the notepad in front of him - the rather full notepad in front of him. He didn't know what to think. On the surface, Vala Mal Doran appeared to be a lot of things but it was difficult to pin down which aspect of her that was the most defining to her nature. He was trying to figure out what it was that attracted the attention of the stalker in the first place and why this person was so fixated on trying to use her past on her. He raised his head and stared straight at her. "How many people know about your time as Qetesh? I mean specific details, how many people would know about those?" Vala ducked her head and slipped her hands into her pockets. 'Protective instinct' he thought. Paul looked at her. It seemed a very un –Vala thing to do. She seemed more to go for the grand gestures or the great cover up. This movement looked out of character. When she lifted her head, her voice was low, quiet. "I'd met a new counsellor on the base. She's very nice. Her name is Anna Devlin. Daniel doesn't know and I don't want him to know. It's not that he wouldn't be thrilled – he would but I don't want him fretting and assuming things that aren't his to assume plus I wanted to do this for both of us. My nightmares are not going to haunt me every night that I'm with him. She's been keeping a record of our appointments on her computer and going by our pain the mitka he tends to love using those. I'm guessing that's where he has got his hand on that information." Paul had to agree with that. This guy seemed to have an almost interesting knowledge of Vala's past and he was very technologically savvy.

"Vala, what about off base. Do you have many friends there?" Vala shook her head.

"Besides Sal and the girls at the diner not really Paul. You have to understand that our job doesn't allow for much free time. The SGC is my home, friends and family in one. Any of the 'friends' I have ever had before were either Goa'uld or like myself in some form of 'freelancing' business and they live on the other side of the Stargate."

"So most of your usual contact would be with people who are within the programme?"

"Yes."

Paul sighed. He reached over to the coffee table to take a sip from his mug. 'Urgh! Cold.' This was getting them nowhere. "Dismissing the administrative staff as from what you have told me you never have any direct contact with them. Who has the skills to crack your personal information? How long do you think this has been going on for?"

"Detective I have told you how long it has being going on for! How can you doubt me after all I have told you!" Vala stormed up from her seat and stood next to the window arms folded. Defiant. Paul let out the next in a number of sighs of the day. He was wishing he hadn't let Adam go back to the base now. The extra protection from an angry Vala would have been good right now.

"Vala!" It was Daniel's voice they heard now. "Enough! I think the detective is not questioning your truthfulness just the entire situation." Daniel was standing by the door, his hands in his pockets and leaning against the doorframe. Paul was grateful for Daniels presence as he watched Vala's entire frame relax. "Darling was there something you wanted besides me?" She purred. Paul watched as a slow blush ran up Daniel's face and his head dropped. Then he saw it. Vala had taken on some of Daniel's characteristics in terms of body language. 'Just what sort of bond did they have?' Paul wondered. Daniel looked at Paul and he could see flickers of something cross Daniel's face. "Vala, could you please grab Paul and me another coffee?" Vala looked annoyed. "Daniel you're a big boy!" She cocked her head, smirked and studied him appreciatively "Get your own coffee!" Daniel sighed exasperated. He arched his eyebrow at her and crooked his finger in a 'come here' gesture. "Excuse me Paul. I just need to sort something out here" Daniel smiled slightly as he said this. Paul watched as this odd couple walked around the corner to the outside of the door. He was tempted to see what Daniel did but considering the way Vala greeted Daniel this morning Paul could only guess. It was very quiet for a few moments then he heard Daniel say "coffee please?" in tone that was soft almost silkily persuasive. He heard Vala move off and Daniel entered the room. "We have a problem. This time it's not concerning Vala. It's concerning me."

Daniel had been working in his study for a couple of hours going over the photographs and reading the comments attached to them. He had hoped to find something or some user name common to the pictures. He was surprised at the number of people who wished that they had someone like him in his life. He gathered that a lot of them were female and occasionally (and to Daniel in a weird kind of way disturbingly) some of them were male. After being flirted with by a certain barista, Daniel was never quite comfortable with certain comments. Jack and he used to laugh that they were on the 'don't ask don't tell' but really that's all it was. Front line units developed a bond that went beyond blood and Daniel knew that. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. It was getting towards late lunchtime and he needed to eat. He decided to log into his email account and see what work was heading his way. Nyan had been keeping him up to date on anything going on in the department and scanning any urgent documents and emailing them across for translation. It wasn't quite the same as having a feel for the actual paper. Sometimes that told him as much about the writer as much as the actual words written there. He double clicked on the departmental email and froze. Filling the screen was a picture of Vala in her quarters on base. She was fast asleep and there was a masked man kneeling beside her bed. A voice came across his speakers. "Do you love her Doctor Jackson? She is so precious isn't she? I knew from the day she walked into my life she was precious. You have not treasured here enough I think."

The picture changed from a still to a live feed of his living room. "I think that we shall see who more worthy of her is. By the way, tell your detective friend to butt out. I don't want to have to harm you anymore than I have to. Tell her from me that she should try and I know 'she feels vulnerable around me'." Daniel sat back shaken. He heard Vala talking in the living room. If he went in now she would know something was up. He sat back and closed his eyes and tried to meditate a bit. He needed to build up some walls so that when he went into Paul she would be none the wiser. It wasn't that he felt Vala needed to be protected. She wasn't fragile like glass. Daniel felt that, like Vala, he needed to fight his own battles. He would tell her but he wanted to show Paul first without her hanging over them both. Half an hour later, he found her arms crossed by the window annoyed with Paul.

When Vala went to the kitchen Daniel quickly explained to Paul about the email. He had called Landry and a counter surveillance team was being sent out to the house and Jack was informed. He told Paul that he was about half way through the photographs and making a list of the main recurring names. He was just about to turn to lead Paul out to the study when a shot rang out. Daniels heart froze. "_Vala? VALA!"_ Daniel and Paul ran to the kitchen where Vala lay. There was a slow pool of blood covering her t-shirt. Daniel reached for a towel and started to apply pressure whilst Paul dialled for an Ambulance. The phone rang. Paul grabbed it off the kitchen counter and passed it to Daniel. "Doctor Jackson, you claim to love the Vala I trust. Now it's time to prove it. Save her!" the phone clicked and died.

A/N: Well did ya see that one coming? Sorry for the delay about posting. I had a hard time getting to this point. Will be more frequent now that I know what I'm doing. Certain Barista refers to our favourite Barista Chronicles. I don't own the idea of that and I apologise if anyone felt it was pinching. Character mentioned by mild reference only. All credit for the chronicles and its stunning array of characters go to Dietcokechic (we're not worthy!).


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The shadow was laughing. He had heard the base abuzz with his exploits. Finally, they would respect the fact that he and Vala were meant to be. He knew it was necessary to hurt her. If the four eyed twit was going to persist in living then he was not prepared to share her. The SF's had been gossiping about the new recruit who was apparently a police detective. He knew that one of the other SF's had been assigned to be his eyes and ears and it had been easy to go through the grapevine to find out who. Whilst secrets were the name of the game on this base, it was never hard to find a paper trail to follow. There was always evidence of orders and paperwork if you knew where to look. The shadow smiled and looked down at the body of SF Sargent Adam Mason. He'd made an easy to follow trail that led him down into the recesses of the base last night. Thankfully Mason had not the common sense to watch his mouth after a few hours of fun and games. He got the address from him. Now it was time to play his next move.

In the second it took for the phone to click it took for Daniel to get angry. Very few times did Daniel get really angry but when he did it was dark and it was murderous. He turned to Paul and Paul took two steps back at the look in Daniels eye. It was in that look that Paul could understand the type of warrior Daniel actually was. That scared Paul. He now understood the remark about how he could fight in 2 wars he knew nothing about. The transformation from gentle archaeologist to battle worn soldier had shocked him. "Paul, come here and take over. Put pressure on the wound and hold it still!" Daniel barked. Daniel reached into the cupboard above the sink and opened the gun safe there. He lifted out the 9mm Beretta gun, checked it, and switched off the safety and took a run around the house, systematically clearing the area as Jack had taught him. He had often cursed Jack for insisting he kept a gun there but right now he was grateful.

Daniel saw the surveillance car guards come running but he wasn't in the form to speak to them. How did they not hear or see what had happened? Right now he didn't need to know their excuses. He'd let Jack tear them to shreds. He had bigger concerns. The shot rang in Daniels head over and over again. 'Vala' was the only prevailing thought in his head. He couldn't lose her again, not this time – not any time. Daniel had lost too much and it was often why he was overprotective of the one person who could wipe the floor with him without breaking much of a sweat. Once Daniel was satisfied that he had cleared the area he went back to the kitchen grabbing his cell phone off the hall table. His only call was to Jack who he knew would get the group together. After that all he could do was sit and staunch the bleeding on Vala's chest praying for Vala to live.

When Cameron got the call about Vala he nearly fell out of the chair in his office. This was supposed to be a joke right? Out of all the places they could relax and be safe had to be their own homes? He made his way out to Jacksons home and made a sweep around the house to try and find where the shooter's nest. The police had been and gone and Paul Ryan was using his links to get the forensics rushed through. He'd spoken to General O'Neill and he was beaming into the SGC in the next few minutes. The SG-1 family was being called in. Someone had hurt one of their own and they were more than pissed. It was the final step and final straw. Cameron found the location of the position of the shooters 'nest'. Daniels house backed onto a small park area. Daniel had fenced it off but there was a line of telephone poles. Easy place for someone to set up for a quick shoot'n'run. The police had been canvessing the neighbourhood but like most places no one saw anything because everyone tended to mind their own business. Cameron was angry and he needed to do something, anything to get the guy who hurt his little 'sister'. By adoption by both him and his parents she was a Mitchell at heart. No one messes with that. 'Right' He thought 'time to end this.'

Teal'c stood guard at Vala's room. She was just back from surgery and Daniel was sitting by her side. Anger didn't begin to cover how Teal'c felt. They had sworn to protect each other. For 12 years he had protected them and for another 50 years he had been their most fervent friend and protector of their secrets. Today he had failed them. BOTH of them! That shame would not stand and this dishonour was not a stain he wanted on his conscious. Teal'c swore an oath to catch this guy and he would honour it.

"Walter, what's the update on Atlantis?" Jack had made a bee line for the control room. He'd heard that Vala had been taken to St. Francis Hospital and Daniel was smart enough to ask that Vala be isolated from the rest of the population. The last he had heard from Daniel was that she was in surgery. Walter Harriman was the off world first line of communication for hope and on base he was the most reliable man to ask for any work that needed done. He'd been there since the beginning. Walter looked at the data packet for the week from Atlantis. "The last report we had from Colonel Carter was that for once they've only had to deal with the Wraith once this week and the replicators are busy beating the living daylights out of the Wraith. She reports that it should continue to be so for at least another three days or so." Jack nodded deep in thought. He really shouldn't do this, he had the power to but he shouldn't. "Walter, dial Atlantis and tell Colonel Carter that it's a family emergency. Tell her to drop whatever she can and get Shepherd to mind the store for a coupla days. Ensure that the ZPM attached to the gate is switched on when she comes."

Jack watched as Walter, bless his little protocol heart, dialled Atlantis and carried out his orders. Sam was going to gate home. 'Fer crying out loud! If this guy was going to jeopardise his family in their homes then maybe just maybe the IOA would be glad that he called Carter home.' He nodded to Walter and headed out of the control room. The SG-1 family was going to gather and that was not good news for this cocky ass. Jack headed out of the control room and headed for the hospital to sit with Daniel, Cameron and Teal'c. Paul was going to join them at the base after they had Vala stabilised and out of surgery. The Odyssey was going to beam her there once she was in the clear. Vala had warned the, about how bad this could get and she had been right to. They'd listened and had acted – just not fast enough. This was a top secret programme and it was this programme and its blasted bureaucracy that had been slow to react. Now they were paying the price with Vala and he had to go watch Daniel's heart break. How did this get so screwed up?

Daniel hadn't moved all night. She made it out of surgery and he just held onto her like his life depended on it. She'd been shot and hurt before and he'd had the same reaction. It was like being tied together with those Kor Mak bracelets. The two of them no matter who got injured off world always held onto each other for dear life. He wanted to get this guy so badly now. It was like Apophis all over again but this time there was nothing holding him back and that scared him because this was not an off world injury and this was getting murderously personal. Cameron had arrived and had dropped off his laptop and notepad. As the morning came so did Daniels need to do something! He wanted to give her news when she woke up. He wanted to tell her he loved her and that she was always going to be safe. He wanted to give her some peace about this guy being behind bars or better six feet under. He wanted… Daniel closed his eyes and his heart rebelling against the pain and in the silence of the room he wept.

Jack watched Daniel in the shadow of the door. 'Holy Hannah he's crying'. It was not something you saw Daniel do. In the years Jack knew Daniel this was not a common sight. He tended to close himself off and as Jack stood there watching his friends private grief he heard light footsteps behind him. Arms circled round his waist and a soft kiss was placed on his cheek. "Hello Jack" Sam whispered. Despite the situation he smiled slightly, sadly. "Hello Carter." Sam looked into the room and frowned. This was not what she had been expecting for a 'family emergency' but ever since the beginning SG-1 had been more of a family to her than her blood relatives. She gasped softly when she saw Vala wrapped in a respirator and attached to a heart monitor. Her heart broke when she saw her little 'brother' break down into tears. If Vala had become the heart of the 'family' then Daniel was the soul. When they FINALLY figured out their feelings Sam was beyond happy. She'd arrived back into the SGC to hear that she had been shot at home! She didn't even think. She just grabbed a spare pair of plain BDU's without patches and came straight to the hospital. When she saw Jack standing there she knew it was serious. "How is she?"

Jack turned and faced Sam. He kept her arms tight around him and stared straight into her eyes. "It was touch and go for a while. The bullet just missed her heart by inches and nicked the lung Sam. It terrified the life out of Danny. We got Carolyn in to sit in on the surgery and she made sure Vala's notes were collected so we could take her back to the SGC. However Paul who's our new security guy recommended we keep her here. You'll meet him soon. No one's going to know except SG-1 and Hank. We have got even worse news as the SF assigned to protect Vala and Danny has been found murdered. We think it's the same guy. Sam this is getting out of hand. We need you to round up the family. Paul, Daniel and I are going to meet you at Sol's Diner. Sal the owner has given it to us as a place to work. He's one of Vala's friends. You remember he sheltered her all those weeks she went missing courtesy of Athena. Daniels agreed to leave Vala this once because Carolyn said she'd sit with her and he's asked to beamed back to her side if she wakes up." Sam stood there and nodded. "Who did this Jack?" Sam called him by his first name not because they were a couple but because this was family not work.

"Our little Spitfire picked up a stalker Sam. He's decided that she is someone he trusts and that she belongs to him. C'mon. Let's get Carolyn so we can let Daniel get this guy. It's time we got our heads together and got the family working on this. We're gonna make this guy regret the day he was born!"


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Sal paled when he had heard about his Val. Daniel had called him to let him know. He'd said that if Vala had been awake she would have wanted him to tell Sal. She was, as far as he was concerned his little girl and part of his family. He cared about her. When he had heard that her friends needed someplace safe to work he didn't think twice. He gave the girls a day off and put a sign on the door to say that a private function was being held there and that he would not be opening today. Not that he ever had done a private function but no one would be brave enough to argue with him. The first person to knock on his door was Paul. He smiled at him sadly and hugged him. "Paulie, what's the word on our girl? Is she alone right now? Is she awake?" Paul crossed his arms. "I've heard from her friend Jack who said that she has got through surgery and they repaired a nick on her lung. She had some damage which they've repaired and they have her in intensive care. Her doctor and friend is sitting with her. The rest of her friends should be here soon. Sal, I'm afraid I'm going to have to tell you more. I'm not with the police anymore. I work with Vala now as a security consultant for the Air Force. They've given me my own department." Sal grinned despite himself but he heard the 'but' in Paul's voice.

"Hey Paul that's fantastic! Why is that bad news?" Paul looked uncomfortable. Sal frowned at this. They'd always had an honest friendship because Paul would talk about his cases to him – not the full details just the bare bones and now Sal felt that perhaps he would not be allowed even that. "Sal, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the diner. Apparently what Vala works on is so classified that I had to go through hundreds of checks before they'd even talk to me about considering the job and I can't tell you more than that." Sal was about to ask Paul another question when there was a knock on the door. Standing outside the diner was a large group of people. Sal recognised Daniel and was shocked by the look of pure grief and pain on his face. Standing next to him on his right was a silver haired man about the same height and a fine looking blond haired lady to Daniels left. It was as if the pair was holding Daniel up and was very used to doing it. Behind them Sal recognised the shorter younger man with brown hair and blue eyes along with the tall dark skinned giant from the day when Val was last in the diner.

Paul turned around expecting to see 3 or 4 people but to see what he assumed was Vala's entire team of friends was surprising. He hadn't expected them to all get here so fast. He wondered how the general he'd spoken to had gotten over from Washington so quickly. The General held out his hand to Sal with a genuine smile on his face. "I hear you're the one who looked after Vala for all of us a while back. I'm General Jack O'Neill and this is Colonel Samantha Carter, Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Murray and Daniel you know. We can't thank ya enough for giving us this place. Sal, we have some paperwork to go through." He looked at Paul, this was going to surprise him but he felt that the man deserved to know a little of the truth. "Paul here may have asked you to leave but I'd like you to sign some documents and stay. On behalf of her 'family here" Jack swept his hand about "we would like you to stay. We all owe you a lot and I think Daniel especially wants you to stay because it is what Vala would want. So where shall we set up?" That knocked Paul back a bit. He hadn't expected SG-1 to do that with a civilian. General O'Neill insisted that Paul and Sal called him Jack and he sat down with Sal and walked him through the paperwork. Sam explained to Paul quietly that apparently they weren't going to be telling Sal about the Stargate but somehow 'Jack' had gotten clearance for Sal to be involved in this little investigation as 'catering'. They'd had him checked out after Vala's return when she had gone missing and especially since Vala started to visit him from time to time, so pushing this through was easy. He'd heard the Jack mutter something about it being better than commissary food and watched a smirk cross the man's face.

Paul started to understand Adam's comments about SG-1. This team functioned as a family. He'd never seen so many people mobilise so quickly on behalf of one person. The team set up quickly and professionally but also good naturedly griped and groaned as the work assignments were divvied up between them all. It was also the level of focus that came with the work. They all sat down and silence fell quickly as they got on with their tasks. It was something amazing to see.

About an hour after getting to the Diner the first pot of coffee had been drained. Sal was in the kitchen making the team something to eat and Sam was sifting through some of Daniels work with the website. Essentially Sam hacked and crashed the site so as to prevent anyone else looking at the photographs. She wanted to work on looking at the list of regular IP (internet protocol) addresses who had regularly attached itself to the site.

The rest of the team were sifting through the posts and comments to see if they could identify when the thread of the first post started and who initiated it. This was being done by Daniel and Cameron who seemed to be talking quietly over one laptop and often making notes in one of Daniels notebooks. Sam noticed that Daniel kept looking at his cell phone every few minutes hoping that Carolyn would call him. Sam noticed that Daniel was pale and tired. He obviously was still getting over his little trip to the infirmary but she could see the weight of the world suddenly back on his shoulders. His relationship with Vala over the last 6 months had lifted that weight but suddenly it had come back with vengeance. She was worried for him.

Paul had been going over his notes with Jack along with the notes on a table in the far corner. There seemed to be a heated discussion which she would have loved to have heard but it was Teal'c who seemed to be in the middle of it as well. She took a sip of her coffee and leaned back in her chair. This day was only going to get longer. Jack, Paul and Teal'c were debating the issue rather more than quietly and Jack was getting more and more frustrated. "Paul it can't be anyone too far from the sphere that Vala works in. You have to understand that our little Spitfire is about as flirty as they come but she doesn't mean anything by it. What I don't get is how this has happened. Everyone who joins the programme is continually reviewed psychologically. No one goes off world without an evaluation. It's hard to imagine how this guy has slipped through the net."

Paul looked at Jack for a moment and then realised what he'd just said. "Jack, you said everyone who goes 'off world' gets routinely tested. What about those who stay behind?" Jack crossed his arms and laid back into the chair. They had been going round in circles for the last 30 minutes or so. They had made a short list of the departments that Vala worked in and of those it was hard to determine which she worked the most in. Vala realistically was a floater between departments because she had so many skills that they all took for granted. Jack paused for a moment and thought about it. A few years ago he wouldn't have been able to answer that question as a colonel. He had sort of ignored the minutia of the base and its personnel except to enjoy being part of it. When he was made 2IC he learned only what he needed to know. Now his time in Washington had given him much detail on the ins and outs of the SGC as part of being head of Home World Security. "Standard procedure dictates that any civilian employees go through a psychological evaluation every year and SF's go through one about the same extent of time depending on the level of action that the base itself actually has. Cleaning, administration and other staff only go through one to check to see if they will pass a security clearance check every 18 months."

They heard a thud on the table. They were really absorbed by the conversation that they didn't hear Sal come over with a plate of sandwiches. The older man saw the frustration in all their faces and smiled sadly. "I'm a guessing you're all tryin' to figure out who did this to our girl." Jack nodded. Sal indicated to the spare seat at the table and Teal'c pulled it out for him. "It strikes me that you guys could use a fresh set of ears on this." Teal'c looked at him. "What is it you are trying to say Sal?" It confused Teal'c that he didn't have the man's surname so he felt like he was being disrespectful by addressing him with only one name. Sal smiled at Teal'c and his formal tone as if sensing his frustration. "Ya know I'd forgotten what it was like to have some respect given to a person." Sal clapped Teal'c on the shoulder and turned to the rest of the small group at the table. "I was just thinkin' about the one time I read a Sherlock Holmes book. A Study in Scarlet." Jack's eyes glazed over slightly. Daniel loved these books and had tried to explain one to Jack once. As with all Daniels rambling explanations Jack got bored quickly. He wasn't sure there was a point in this man's little recital but he'd hear him out. "Ah General Putz! Don't you dare try the bored look with me!" Jack looked slightly apologetic but raised his eye brows in an irreverent 'ya think' look.

Sal crossed his muscular arms and continued ignoring Jack. "Nah, I'm not gonna go through the whole book with ya. From what little I've gathered from your little, ah, conference you've all been looking at a guy who gets his jollies from stalking our Val. Now, the question I have to ask myself is based on that book. Who out of your fancy little list and even fancier laptops has the knowledge to do what he did to our girl and go unnoticed in your fancy base? 'Cos here's what I'm thinking. This guy may have been at this for a bit longer than just the last few weeks. It's only now he's got dangerous. I'm wonderin' what prompted that to happen and how did he plan to start? In Sherlock Holmes, he asked one question who is it that we all see every day and ignore?" Everyone in the room paused and looked at Sal. It was very quiet all of a sudden. "What?" Yelped Sal. "I was only wonderin'"


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Genius Sal!" crowed Jack. "Lemme see that list again Paul. We need to eliminate all the ones who are specialised in any particular way." Paul shoved over his notepad. Cameron smiled a tight smile. "I think I know who it could be." Jack looked at him and saw the slight glint of mischief in his eye. He tried to shake his head imperceptibly. Sam looked to Cameron, the room was all tense. "It's Walter – gotta be! We see him most days and practically ignore him." Small grins appeared on Jack and Sams faces. Daniel threw a look that could kill. "Not funny Cam, Vala is really friendly with Walter and he actually does a lot for us when we get into trouble both on and off base." Cameron noticed Daniel didn't say 'off world' looked open mouthed and slightly exasperated at Daniel and then dropped his head in shame. "Sorry man! Just tryin' to relive the stress a bit." Daniel ignored him and shook his head. His patience had worn thin and Cameron just wasn't helping. He looked to his phone again - still no calls.

Sal looked at the team slightly amused by the young man's antics. "Guys what I think the problem is that the book was thinking about areas were you see people on a day to day basis doing their jobs but essentially until you need them they are ignored or invisible to everyone. In the book Sherlock found that it was a cab driver who was the murderer. Do you guys have anyone like that?" Sal smiled and began to feel a little smug. 'It's amazing what a lick of common sense can do for people.' He thought. The team at that point had all made a bee line for Jack's table and the list on it. Sam had brought her laptop but had changed the window from fancy IP searching to a list of personnel on the base each filed marked top secret. She was sitting in such a way that only Paul and she could see the details keeping Sal effectively out of the loop.

Daniel sat astride a metal chair head resting on the edge of the back of the chair deep in thought. It was Sal's questions that had really got to him. 'The guy on the phone challenged me to protect Vala, to save her. What was it that he keeps writing or saying? In Vala we or I trust. Who do we put our trust in when we are on base? Who would have the access to all of us? How do you get things onto base?' Daniel looked at the list again. It was staring at him, the answer was staring at him almost mocking him and he nearly jumped a mile. He leapt up from his seat and walked up to the door and unlocked it. He didn't care who watched him nor did he care that he could hear Jack coming straight after him. It was too claustrophobic in that diner and he needed out NOW before he damaged something! He opened the door and kept walking not looking back.

Jack stared at the list for a moment, and was immediately concerned. On the surface it looked like Vala only did bits and pieces around the SGC. He thought about it more and realised that she was actually involved in some of the most sensitive areas on the base. When she arrived all those years ago, Vala had started out with the SF's because no one knew where else to put her except of course Daniel whom she helped to translate items that either led to intelligence on their enemies or use of weapons which she eventually helped Sam with. She had by default been training the SF's in dealing with incursions. Only the SF's and of course the marines who would have the capability and training to take the shot that had incapacitated her but only the SF's would have the access to the same areas as she would and the training in science and forensics to go with it! Jack looked over at Daniel. In the same instant that he had figured this out he saw Daniel head out the door knowing full well Daniel had figured this out before him. "Ach! Fer crying out loud!" All heads snapped round first to Jack and then the door Daniel just exited. "Wait here and start looking at the SF's Carter. The answer has got to be there!" He shot out of his seat and went running after Daniel.

Paul looked confused. He was still angry over Adams death because he felt responsible for it much in the same way he felt responsible for Vala getting shot but he'd tucked that away in a box in his mind to deal with later. He looked to Sam who seemed intent on her search through the database. "Colonel Carter, why did Jack ask you to look into the SF's. I mean what specifically is their job on the base." Sam looked at the detective with confusion then understanding. He wasn't military and it was in truth a question she not really thought much of. She guessed it was because the SF's were always just 'there'. Outside of backing them up when something happened on base, she never really thought about who they were. She looked over at Sal. This conversation was getting into very sensitive areas but it was now at this point in time that the conversation was going into areas Sal was not cleared for.

From meeting the tall muscular man with his big eyes and curly hair she fell in love with him. He was a great papa bear figure that she could understand Vala liking. "Sal, I'm afraid this is the point where I do have to ask you to talk a little walk just for a little while." Sal lifted his hands as if to say 'hey, I know when I'm not wanted'. Sam stood and surprised the man by grabbing him into a hug. "I'm sorry Sal, it's just it's the most classified bit we have to look at. Cameron came and stood behind her and clapped Sal on the shoulder. "Sal, why don'tcha go home and see you wife that you told me about when we arrived. We'll call you when we need you to refill us with some of your cookin'." Sal nodded appreciating the way in which the two team members had taken the sting out of the dismissal. They were treating him as part of the family and they wanted him to know that. Sal nodded. He walked over to the counter and pressed the button for the coffee machine to dispense a fresh pot of coffee, left out a fresh cake, gathered his coat and left. The team returned to their assigned tasks besides the obvious missing members.

Sam turned to Paul, who had raised his eyebrows questioningly and was waiting for an answer. Sam took a sip of her coffee and turned to face Paul. "Paul, essentially the SF's are security on a base especially one that is diverse as ours and especially with the Stargate. They are trained in weapons, incursions, dog handling, occasionally we have a few who will deploy to off world bases like the Alpha and scientific sites, they provide security procedures for the base, oh wow! Never thought about his, um, they investigate minor crime like petty thefts, bar brawls and punch ups (that's why we needed you for this), um what else, there's a number of other jobs they do. Provide gate security and transportation of prisoners, train us in new weapons and basically most of them are in the mountain at least 60 hours a week. Wow! Okay definitely never thought about that. They are essentially always there. Oh no, I understand what Jack means now. Holy Hannah! He's been there the whole time!"

Cameron came over with Daniel's laptop. "He's been a busy bunny too. See these photographs?" He pointed to two of them on the screen. The first showed Vala's head next to what looked like a metal wall with a small sign on it. The second was a wider shot of the same image only Vala didn't seem to be aware of the picture being taken. She was dressed in her leather gear and long leather coat. The type script on the doors was familiar. Sam stared at it. She'd passed that same script on the door that said 'Commissary' every day for a number of months before she re-joined SG-1. She looked at Cameron and he nodded and verbalised her thought "Paul this picture was taken at Area 51". It was two seconds before the personnel records were drawn up on all the laptops. Teal'c started with Area 51 and Cameron started with the SGC. They were close they could feel it.

Daniel felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder. He stopped walking but didn't turn around "Don't be an ass Jack leave me alone!" Jack came round to face him. "Not gonna happen Daniel. I know what you're thinkin' and it ain't gonna happen. I'm not gonna let you near the mountain to tear about some perfectly good SF's who we'll need when this is going to go down." Daniel looked at Jack and then at the street around him that he was walking down. The street was relatively quiet with normal people going about their normal lives walking past small shops and complaining about their jobs and their everyday lives. 'Why can't Vala and I be that for once?' He thought. 'Why can't we have that sense of 'normality' – whatever it means to these people on the street?' Jack stared at him. Obviously letting Daniel get his head together from whatever he was thinking.

Daniel tensed and shivered with anger. "Jack he's been right under our noses. The flowers would have had to be set down in her room and the lab by an SF they have they keys to the kingdom on our base. He would have been in and out of her room and no one – not one person would have questioned his reasons for going near her in the infirmary. We asked THEM to keep an eye on her JACK! He could have been two metres away and we would have never known it!" Daniels shoulders heaved. He felt the tears coming again and cursed them. He never let anyone see him cry especially Jack. Some people were staring at Daniel and jack just waved them off stating he'd just had bereavement in his family. It was a flimsy excuse but Daniel knew Jack was trying to deflect attention away from him. Jack stood in front of him and put his hand on his shoulder and spoke softly.

"Ach, Spacemonkey, it's been hard on you both these last few weeks. I get the feeling though we are nearly there. Come back with me. I know that we look to the SF's for a lot of things including our safety and we take them for granted but we are not gonna let one guy tear down a buncha good SF's who we work with every day. Come on Daniel, come back to the diner. Let's see what Sam and the rest of them have dug up?" Jack shifted round to push Daniel in his back. Daniel slowly nodded and took a deep breath. "Yep Jack let finish this once and for all." Jack nodded and they turned back to walk towards the diner. "Sure thing kid, yeah sure thing."

The shadow had started his shift on the sign in desk. He wasn't required to cover the normal SF duties on base most days as he usually worked the weapons team but they were shorthanded and he needed to be seen. He was lucky because he was on the surface level entrance which meant he could slip away without too many people noticing. SF's were ripe for gossip in the SGC he noted. When he worked in Area 51 his computer sciences degree were used to train people in and develop weaponry that had been brought back from the Stargate. Here at the SGC he could have access to the one woman who made him feel again. He'd heard that she wasn't going to be transferred to the infirmary. Rumour was it that the cop had suggested she stay at one of the public hospitals. He was going to find her and he was going to see her – no matter what the cost. He lifted the phone and started his list of hospitals. No matter what he needed Vala.

A/N: Walter remark was for Noxbait – careful what you don't wish for!

A/N: SF's are essentially a good bunch of people who work their asses off for the USAF. Never am I implying that they are all a bad bunch. Facts have been researched and I was astonished to find out that they are in fact very busy bunnies! Good work and all the best to them!


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Daniel and Jack arrived back into the diner and the team gathered round to show them what they had found. The picture from Area 51 was there clear as day and Daniel shuddered. It is one thing to accept fear as part of your job but he was never going to give into fear – that was what got you killed and he had died enough times to know that. Sam had given him some detail of what they were looking at now. The time frame of the pictures was at least 2 years old but the actual date of the first picture to go up from the regular postings started at least 2 weeks after the return from the after the Odyssey. The fifty years that did and did not happen. The nickname of the first post read 'VShadowVeritas' and he seemed to be the instigator of the thread according to Sam. Daniel raised his head from the laptop and realised that everyone was waiting for him as worrying about his reaction. From this point on he realised only one thing – he would not give into fear not if he could give Vala some kind of justice. "I realise a lot of you are waiting for me to freak out again after Jack chasing me down but I am not going to do that. I guess I needed to clear my head. First, the way this guy is acting is almost as if it is a play and only he knows the plot and Vala is his leading lady. We are not invited to take part but he delights when we act a certain way. Second, that picture seems to be one of the first he's taken of her and that seems to be a lot older than the ones posted. They're almost around the time when Vala started running drills at Area 51. Anthropology, archaeology and languages have always been my specialty not detective work."

Jack scoffed at the remark along with the rest of the team. "Jackson, the only thing I've seen you do since I joined the team IS detective work!" Cameron argued. "Sure, it's not the same as Paul here but you've been diggin' in one form or another since the day and hour I've known you. You've always looked for the truth and nothin' less than that will ever do you. If that weren't so I would be in prison for a murder I didn't commit."

"I would be dead now if you had not insisted DanielJackson if you had not spoken for me during the Cor'ai" chimed in Teal'c. Sam just smiled as if to say that he knew what they had done for each other.

"Yeah Daniel, how many times have we NOT got our asses fried because you went all detective on us? How many times have we argued over the points that sometimes meant you were right" agreed Jack. Daniel raised his eyebrows at the word 'sometimes' but didn't say anything. Now was not the time for that particular argument. Paul looked again at this man who the people around him seemed to have some deep admiration for in equal measure of friendship and he found himself again asking himself what had he gotten himself into and who were these people? Daniel blushed and ducked his head again. Paul could clearly see that the man did not take compliments well. He cleared his throat as if something had lodged there.

"Guys we're getting off the topic here. My point is this that in anthropology stalkers are viewed with the same methodical and sometimes driven behaviour and that is objective in its approach. We need to be looking at the guys behaviour as much as his method. What would a guy who has intimidated, carried out surveillance, left gifts for and finally injured the object of his obsession do next? The where he started from we have figured out." Paul nodded the logic was unassailable. He turned and it was his turn to follow the logic.

"Daniel would you say there has been a lot of new staff in the SGC in the past month. From what I can gather there has been an escalation possibly since he arrived in the SGC. Also I have already put a plan in place to answer your first query. I'm waiting to see how that one pans out." Paul looked to Jack and Cameron for that one. They both nodded and Daniel was immediately worried. They had left him out of the loop. Something was going to go down and he wasn't invited. Daniels phone went and he grabbed it instantly. 'Please be about Vala, please be about Vala.' His thoughts danced around his head and he answered the phone. "Hello, Daniel Jackson speaking." His voice was clipped but he maintained his air of politeness.

"Hi Daniel, it's Carolyn." Daniel's breath caught. "Vala is coming around from the surgery. She's in a lot of pain so I had to sedate her again. She's off the critical list for now but we're keeping an eye on her. Don't rush back yet as she will be incoherent for another couple of days but have hope Daniel, she's fighting every inch for this." Daniel left out the breath he'd been holding. It wasn't what he had hoped for but then it wasn't a miracle wake up that you would normally expect from real life. "Carolyn, how long?" Heads whipped around from the team. They all knew what he was talking about. Carolyn sounded tired. "Daniel, she'll have to be kept under sedation for another couple of days just to allow her body a chance to recover from the trauma. Her body has had a massive shock. We'll just have to take a day at a time and allow Vala a chance to recover at her own pace. Best guess 3 days till we can safely wake her." Daniel felt his heart drop into worry again. "Thanks Carolyn. I'll talk to you again later. Bye." The phone screen faded back into the home screen image. Vala's face smiled at him and he wished he could find the heart to change it. He turned and told the others what Carolyn said. They were pleased to hear that she had woken up but the concern still hung there.

"Holy Hannah!" Sam's voice cracked through the thoughts in his head. She looked to Daniel seeing the confusion on his face. "Sorry Daniel, I'm not entirely there yet. I've got a list of SF's who have transferred over to the SGC in the past month. There are at least 100 who have changed out with the SGC personnel." Sam looked at Paul to explain. "Every few months some of the SF's are given the option to transfer temporarily to Area 51 or the SGC in order to give front line teams a break in routine and keep the men or women fresh under the Stargate programme. We pretty much have a mountain that's a front line in itself so allowing that relief can provide a break away from the madness and provide fresh personnel in the mountain." Cameron nodded.

"So whatcha sayin' here Sam is that this guy was in the new rotation batch that came in a few weeks ago and has been tryin' to play happy families with our princess." Sam nodded. She smiled grimly. "I'm all for romance but poison and bullets just don't say 'I love you' to me. I'm guessing this guy has some weapons training and possibly some science knowledge related to computers so I'm starting my search there in the personnel files."

Paul chipped in "Sam, don't forget to look for a guy who may have been denied promotion on numerous occasions or had some kind of loss in the last few months or years. These guys tend to be very insecure but not always." Sam nodded. She put her head down and started typing. Jack turned to Daniel. "Danny boy I want you to help her. You may see or think of something she's missed." Daniel again looked worried. "Why, what are the rest of you going to do?" Jack looked guilty but then covered it up quickly. "Nothing that you need to worry yourself about, we're just going to grab another coffee and look over the list again." Jack felt relieved when that seemed to mollify Daniel slightly. They were waiting and they knew what was coming. So they grabbed their coffee and waited pretending to go over the list that really was now of no consequence.

Three hours later the call finally came. Jack had drunk far too much coffee and was ready to pee the brown liquid. He was bored and was ready to jump into action. He looked at Teal'c, Cameron and Paul and knew they all felt the same way. While Paul answered his phone, jack looked to Sam. She nodded. She distracted Daniel by asking him to read through another of the files in detail while she did a surface scan of the material. When Daniel had gone off on his little walk Cameron had sneaked in a bag filled with Zats. He had taken Paul over one side and taught him how to fire one of the guns. Cameron taught Paul just enough that he could stun a person with it. With that one call Sam had given the distraction they needed. Cameron slipped out the Zat from the bag aimed it at Daniel and fired. Sam and Teal'c caught him and laid him gently on the floor. Jack turned to Paul who was slightly stunned and amused by the escapade. "Paul he's a liability. We let him loose on this and he'll just kill the guy. I won't have Daniel spoilt by that level of hate. He's too good a man and if you tell him I said that I'll Zat all of you twice!" Jack felt slightly embarrassed by his speech. They all felt it though. They would protect Daniel at all costs including against himself.

Paul turned, an urgency in his voice. "The hospital said that an SF called from the base under General Landry's orders about 20 minutes ago. He said that he would be over to guard her door in an hour. Since we all know we asked for help from the 'PD to cover that we know this is our guy. So how do we beat him to it? He's probably way ahead of us by now." Jack and Cameron both turned and grinned. Cameron slapped Paul on the back. "AHH man, ya know, you have a lot to learn!" Jack pulled a radio from his pocket and grinned. "Yep! Paul you have yet to learn that 'rank hath its privileges!' My rank especially!" Jack spoke into the radio "Odyssey this is General O'Neill, we'd like our lift and can you beam one soon to pissed archaeologist into a holding cell?"

Paul looked at them. Beaming? WHAT! Paul felt his skin tingle as a white shaft of light surrounded them. Next thing he knew he was on the bridge of a ship. Ten seconds later he was outside the room they had chosen for this little operation. Cameron turned and looked at the men there. Sam had chosen to stay on the ship when they were planning this little jaunt so that she could finish her work and calm down Daniel before he saw Cameron again. She knew that Daniel was not averse to killing a man by pranking and like the general he was in fact very good. Cameron was so gonna be a dead man when he next saw Daniel! Cameron looked at the hospital room and the bed that lay within. He smirked "So, who wants to play Vala?" The men all grinned and all eyes turned to face him. He groaned. Somehow he knew that was going to happen.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

He was here; he was finally getting close to her door. The shadow had been building up to this for months and the opportunity was finally here. He knew that the path he walked was not an easy one but then again loving someone never was. The fact that he was going to get to talk to her and tell her things that were important was just the highlight of this whole journey – so what if he got caught! It was time that people acknowledged them as a couple and time he was shown a little respect. It was as if he knew this was coming and his whole life led up to this moment.

"General Jonathan Jack O'Neill I am gonna kill you! Ow!" His shout resounded along with the headache the zat had left him with. He was angry at Jack – Cameron he could kinda forgive because he was still learning not to be in awe of Jack. The sound has bounced off every wall the little cell had to offer. He hammered the door and called out. "Okay I know Jack's left some sap behind to cushion the blow so can you please get them along with some painkillers?" No response. Daniel sighed. This was just typical Jack O'Neill overprotective to the last. He didn't know when to quit on Daniel. Most days Daniel could accept that but today he was ready to string up the general and inclined to leave him swinging! Daniel walked back over to the small cot and sat with his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift. His thoughts led back to Vala's stalker. He remembered talking to them about this guy being a performer of some kind. He had a feeling this guy was heading to the grand finale but he wasn't quite there yet. That this guy was going to do something spectacular either before or after he was caught.

What had now caught Daniel's attention was the way the team seemed to be scrambling about the place trying to keep him out of the loop like they knew something. It had been that way since he had got back to the diner. The penny dropped – THEY KNEW WHO HE WAS AND THEY WEREN'T TELLING HIM! He sprung up from the cot again and this time he hammered the door down. He kept hammering until his arms hurt and nothing else mattered. He started cursing them all in all the languages he knew and it felt like some betrayal. Daniels knees gave out from the falling adrenaline rush of his anger and he fell against the door. This was one protection ploy too far this time and there was nothing he could do about it.

Sam sat outside the door of Daniels cell wincing at each thud and hammer. She had told Jack when they zatted him it would be ugly and had advised Cameron not to leave Daniel out of the loop. She felt he might be able to add something to the team. However, they had all overruled her and their reasoning was sound. It was actually Paul who swung her decision stating that "In reality you all as a team would never be allowed to investigate this in the PD because as part of his unit you would be considered Vala and Daniel's family". This was why she realised he had not completely flipped when they had stunned Daniel. He understood that they were trying to protect Daniel.

She looked at her screen on her laptop and the face stared back at her. His cold hazel eyes stared back at her and she studied the soon to be lab rat of Area 51 prison cells. He had a round face –one that could be mistaken for friendliness and his pointed jaw and soft cheeks could almost be recognised as one of those who were kindly but it was the eyes that had got to her. The eyes told a different story. They were cold almost arrogant and his jaw was tightly clenched over. She looked at the file of one Geoffrey Dickinson. According to his service record he had joined the SF's in 1999 and had a degree in computer science and had become a weapons trainer in Area 51 3 years after the programme started. He had got the rank of warrant officer and seemed to be stuck at that rank. His reviews listed him as methodical but not suited for any high level of command and yet he had applied for his Sergeants rank a number of times. He'd even applied to retrain to join the SG teams but was deemed unsuitable for off world even for security on the off world sites.

From his appearance on his file profile photograph, he was not what she had expected for a scary stalker like guy in fact she probably wouldn't have paid too much attention to him in the halls – and there lay the problem. There was much that had been taken for granted about this whole scenario and the way they treated the SF's in general and in the end there was going to be a price paid by all.

Sam listened again to the door. The hammering had stopped and a muffled cry could be heard. Sam got up and opened the door. There Daniel sat on the floor of the small cell. She sat down beside him and put her arm around him in a side hug. Daniel's whole body stiffened as if it knew it was Sam and he knew she was here to placate him after Jack's little stunt. Sam figure he'd guessed that Jack would figure he would open up to her and she would get him to forgive him. She looked into his eyes and saw that that was not going to happen this time. "Don't Sam, just don't." Sam heard the acid in his tone and knew that this was not going to be as straight forward as Jack thought it would be. Her laptop sat outside the door and she was glad she'd locked the screen. Sam didn't want Daniel to make a grab for it and see the information about Vala's stalker until they were ready to show him. She sighed. Daniel was being petulant and he had every right to be. They'd probably gone too far this time and they all knew it. "C'mon Daniel, there's something I have to show you."

They'd been waiting in 'Vala's' room for about 40 minutes now. Teal'c and Jack waited quietly in the private patient bathroom and Paul had stationed himself next to the back of the door of the room so that he wouldn't initially be seen when Geoffrey came into the room. The team wanted the guy to focus on the bed not Paul. They'd narrowed down the list fairly quickly once Daniel had taken off out of the diner. The little show they put on when he returned was just to keep him busy. Jack knew he was going to be friendless for a while but it was worth it if Daniel kept what little innocence he had left. He may be a grown man but he was still the best of the team heart and mind.

The two policemen had been guarding the door for most of the day. The security men had been issued with Geoffrey's photo as soon as they had found it. Most of the SGC had been issued with smart phones as soon as the technology had become available and they had proven useful in operations such as this. They'd used one of Sam's doohickey phone apps that she had developed at Area 51 to hack into the hospital CCTV and were able to see him enter into the hospital. The app was going to allow them to follow him all the way up to the room.

Cameron had been given a black wig to wear whilst hiding under the covers. He balked at the mention of a gown especially when Jack suggested it should be one of Vala's lacy ones. Jack and Paul had both laughed at Cameron's reaction to THAT one! They'd also rigged some of the medical machines to give off false readings and hey presto it was a waiting game. Now all they needed was the main star of the show.

Geoffrey knew that this moment was worth waiting for and steadied himself outside the entrance to the ward. He took a deep breath and reached in for his ID. He padded his chest and made himself relax. This was it. He was going to see her and it was going to be a great defining moment in his life. He walked onto the ward towards the two police officers who were very obvious in their presence outside the door of the ward. HE brandished his ID and identified his name and rank. He smiled "Why don't you boys get off now. I'm sure you're ready for a coffee." The taller officer who was dark skinned with wide brown eyes nodded. "Sure thing, thanks for the relief. Good luck on the guard duty!" With that two officers left throwing a wave over their shoulders and walked out of the main ward. Geoffrey took position right outside the door and waited for the corridor to clear. An hour later he entered her room oblivious to anything except her. He smiled at the raven black hair that covered her face. Had she put on weight? "Hello Vala, nice to speak to you again." There groan from the bed and Geoffrey's heart leapt and then fell. A hand had dropped on his shoulder. Paul Ryan smiled. "Ah, Geoffrey do join us." Geoffrey reacted instantly he punched Paul in the chin and swept in at his knees effectively laying him out on his back. The next sensation that Geoffrey felt was pain and then blackness. Cameron sat up. "Well hello sugar! Nice of you to pay this sweet thing a call!" Jack lowered his zat and grinned. It was time to start cleaning house and they had a lot to do. Starting with a little beaming.

Sam guided Daniel round to the sick bay on the Odyssey and Daniels heart suddenly caught itself in its beat. There lay Vala out of harm's way and under the watchful eye of Carolyn. He nodded to Carolyn and she smiled softly. She nodded to Sam and left Daniel alone with Sam and Vala for a moment. Daniel walked over to Vala's bed and dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Hi, I've missed you!" He whispered this softly in her ear. He stroked the loose hair away from her face and watched as the machines did the breathing for her. Her heart beat steadily and he wished nothing more to see her grey eyes wide awake and looking straight back at him. His best friend. His girlfriend. "C'mon Vala. Come back to me and we'll do a few of those shopping trips for the house. I'll even take you away to some of those places you've been looking at in your magazines. We can go to New York and I'll take you shopping in Barney's." He talked quietly whispering these sentences as though they were the most precious secrets they'd had together. "I want you to get better Vala. I miss you too much for you to give up." Daniel knew that she was unconscious but he felt that he needed to tell her that much just enough to remind her to wake up. He kissed her cheek.

He wanted to tell her more but they were waiting to hear from Jack and the rest of them. At that thought he reigned in his anger. Now was not the time or place – later when things were settled would he let it run free. He turned to Sam and she saw the look in his eyes which where a mixture of sorrow and anger. "Vala is in this state because of this man who you know the identity of. Sam, show me! I can't do anything now but I need to know who this guy is. Sam let me see his file please?" He made himself relax and softened his look. "Daniel I can't not until I hear from Jack." She shifted her stance shuffling from foot to foot. He turned on the charm factor. "Sam, I'm not going to be able to get to the guy. C'mon you can't have agreed with Jack on this. Lemme just read his file. You can sit next to me even cuff me to a chair if necessary. Please Sam if it were Jack wouldn't you want to know?" Sam's eyes widened. "Okay but we go to the conference and we look at it there and Daniel that was a low blow even for you!" She was no longer sympathetic for her 'brother'. He had just hit her where it hurt and he knew it. Carolyn came over to them and cleared her throat. "I've just had a crewman come to me. The Colonel wanted you to know that they have him and that he's been beamed aboard. They've got him." Sam closed her eyes in relief but Daniel looked puzzled. This was happening way too easily. He needed to see that file.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Daniel looked at the file on the laptop in front of him in Carolyn's office. He managed to convince Sam that he wouldn't do anything now that they had the guy in custody and that she could now do it without going against orders. 'So this is the guy who has been making our lives a living nightmare and who has been robbing Vala of her home.' He didn't know if he felt more angry or relieved that they had him in custody. It was just all too easy. Everything about this guy screamed methodical and there was nothing methodical in the way he allowed himself to be caught so easily. Something just didn't entirely add up. Geoffrey knew too much about the procedures of the security of the programme to let himself get caught so easily. Daniel looked at the psychological report and found nothing to suggest that he had obsessional tendencies but he had suffered some anxiety and had been off with stress on numerous times. There was on his record nothing too serious but enough that many of his superiors felt that he was not suitable for front line action. He changed to look at Geoffrey's areas of specialties these included weapons training, new technologies and … the last item on the list had Daniel scrambling from his chair. He needed to get to Jack FAST!

Given that the interrogation was something that generally had to be carried out by the investigating officer Cameron and Teal'c backed off and let Jack and Paul take the lead. They watched from the conference room via the cameras. This guy Geoffry seemed so unconcerned by the situation he was in and it made Cameron mad. Cameron even wondered if this guy had any comprehension as to what he had done and the pain he had caused. Teal'c looked ready to murder the guy but it took General O'Neill to talk him down. Not even Cameron could manage that the last time Teal'c swore revenge on someone – he wasn't even left in one piece. They turned their attention to the screen and watched helplessly.

Paul circled Geoffry quietly, appraisingly. He'd asked Jack to hang back by the wall and told him to keep his mouth shut. He'd only let him in as a courtesy but told him one word and he was out on his ear. Jack had the common sense to believe him. The man seemed to watch him as Paul circled him – a predator evaluating prey. Geoffrey leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms smugly. If there was one thing he learned with guys like this it was to talk to the ego not the man. This guy to Paul was all about the ego and it showed in the way he stalked Vala and in the confidence he showed in attacking Doctor Jackson. Daniel had been right in his assessment in that this guy must be some kind of showman but to what extent and what level Paul couldn't tell. Jack looked at Paul and it was as if he could read the extent of thinking going on in his mind. "Geoffrey, you took great pains to get Vala's attention why did you do that?" Jack lifted his head and covered the flash of surprise in his eyes. He hadn't expected this approach. Geoffrey smiled. "Detective, have you ever been in love? Haven't you ever just found someone who you knew was your perfect half?" Paul didn't answer him. The guy seemed to want to answer his own questions.

He looked to Jack. "Ah! The ever present General Jack O'Neill! Do you even know who guards your door anymore? I heard you used to be such a nice guy to us. Then you got a star on your shoulder and things changed. How's the beautiful Colonel these days. Is she getting lonely at Atlantis?" Jack looked to Paul. He wanted to answer back to him so badly. Paul shook his head imperceptively and the message was clear –'he's baiting you'.

"Vala knew who we were. You know she actually took a lot of us SF's out to coffee and slapped the bill on the Air Force. She tried to get us all to a bar but the expenses guy wouldn't let her do it. So we took her out and she drank us all under the table. She's the only person who ever bothered to ask me my name. She is the only one to ever bother to find out who I am. You know you can trust a person like that. They are true people." Geoffrey leaned back again the cuffs clanked against his thighs. He smiled at both of them. "So," Paul began, "how did you get about the base then? Seemed pretty clever that no one saw you and yet we were able to find you." Geoffry just shook his head. "uh uh! No freebies on that one. You're gonna be told what I want to tell you and no more. I want to see her and I want to see her now. I want my Vala." Jack's anger jumped and he struggled to contain himself. This was his best friend he was asking to see. The one in whom he put a bullet in and was now fighting for her life in an infirmary bed just a few corridors over. Jack shoved his hands in his pockets and bit his lip. Geoffry continued. "You see I knew from the moment I saw her that she was the one who I would love. She was the one person who acknowledged me. Her life as Qetesh showed that she had power as well as beauty and that is something to be owned by the right man. Geoffry turned to Jack and his grin widened. "I'm surprised your geeky friend Doctor Jackson took so long to even realise she was even alive and breathing. He took long enough to approach her. Now me, I wouldn't have been so dumb. I'm amazed you can even call him a man." It was with that comment Jack snapped. He slapped the man upside his head before the two marines got to him. They held him tight and dragged him out of the room. Jack was screaming obscenities and Geoffrey just laughed at him. He started to sing and that was all Paul was able to get out of him. As two marines entered the room Paul could hear him. "Hey baby, Mrs. Cold, Acting so tough didn't know you had it in you so be hurt at all, You waited too long, You should've hook me, before I put my raincoat on, Okay, I get it, Okay, I see, You were fronting because you knew you'd find yourself vulnerable around me…"

Cameron shut off the screen in disgust. They were recording this 'guy' as they had to but he never thought he would see the day when an evil so human would walk into the SGC. If this was what Vala had hoped for when she came to earth then he would help her find another home along with Daniel. Teal'c looked ready for war on this guy. He had insulted and hurt his family and that to a Jaffa was a matter that could not stand. Daniel came barrelling into the room. "Jack, where's Jack?" He looked as if he had run the whole way and he was gasping for a breath. Cameron looked at him. "He's two decks down from here why?" Daniel looked at him alarm very evident in his face.

"Geoffrey was responsible for weapons training and also testing at Area 51 more specifically small concealable bombs that could be placed on a person without detection for small undercover jobs. He was testing the Naquadah variety as of the last 6 months. The project was getting close to a prototype. I think he has it on him." The three of them glared at the blank screen for two seconds and bolted to find Jack.

Geoffrey closed his eyes and was thankful he got to have his say. She would see when he was gone such was her curiosity and he loved her for it. She would know and he would be dead." He looked at the camera and tapped his thigh again with his cuffs. The first tap had armed the explosive. He had been adding small minute traces of naquadah to his blood for months. The catalytic agent should set it off with this second tap. The Marines going for their handguns. "Goodbye Vala. I love you very much and you should have died with me." He smiled and closed his eyes. Jack was a few cabins over and trying to get a grip on himself. Paul was waiting for that to happen before he laid into him. They both heard desperate footsteps. "Jack! Jack! Get Geoffrey out into space NOW!" Jack heard the desperation in Daniels voice and knew something was up. He was about to ask why when the floor shook and the feeling of decompression hit. The explosion wasn't big enough to do much damage but oxygen began to leave the atmosphere and they were all gasping for breath whilst holding on dear life as the air rushed out of the compartment. They say in space no one can hear you scream. Vacuum tends to take that away from you. There was a tingling sensation as the Asgard beam snagged anyone in the area as part of the new safety features. They hadn't bothered to take off the tag off Paul. They arrived on the bridge gasping for air with medics clamouring onto the bridge. It was in essence luck that had saved them. It was also, Daniel realised in his muddied thoughts, over.

A/N: Can I just thank everyone who has read this and stuck with it. I'm not quite done yet but I wanted to thank you all for adding me to your alerts and reviewing or making the story a favourite. It has been mind blowing - 2,710 Hits and 722 Visitors to story: In Vala We Trust and that's just for May 2011. I can't thank you guys enough. Stayed tuned as you know I'll always write about the fall out!


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

It was the shot that rang clear in her head as she woke up. Vala had been dreaming of that she was certain but for how long she couldn't tell. She could feel the tubes in her throat and her eyes went wide with fear and confusion. "Hey easy! Vala take it easy!" It was Daniel's voice right? There was a steady beeping from the heart monitors as she tried to look for Daniel but all she could see was Carolyn run in and begin rattling off vitals and checking off her various states of wellness. She wanted the tube out and she wanted to speak. She could feel Carolyn bustling about her and then she heard Carolyn tell her to take a deep breath and blow out on her command. She did as she was told and the next thing she knew the tube was out. 'Ahh freedom!" She thought and sighed. Daniel was finally let in and he smiled at her and stroked her cheek. He smiled. "I'm so gonna kick your ass for scaring me like that!" She smiled at that and rasped "Promises, promises Darling." He kissed her forehead as her eyes grew heavy and she fell asleep.

Daniel sat with Vala and most mornings and evenings working most nights. He never really left her side much except to grab a coffee or yet another reference book from his office. He spoke softly with her and often had to be ordered by Landry or Doctor Lam to his quarters to sleep or to the commissary to eat. He was so happy to see her awake but he couldn't find it within himself to be completely happy.

Over the last few weeks after the capture and death of Geoffrey the silence between the team was deafening. Sam couldn't blame him in some ways. They'd done something they never would have before and now the rift between them all was very noticeable. Each of the team either blaming themselves or the other for their lack of culpability for not trusting Daniel to do what was necessary. The most noticeable rift was between Jack and Daniel. They were like family to each other and that was what had made this harder on all of them. They hadn't had an argument like this since the earliest days of their friendship and the whole of the SGC was watching. They still sat together in the commissary for their breakfast but the conversation was limited to "pass the salt please" and "good morning". Jack had eventually turned tail and headed back to Washington plus he had been away from the work he had to do there for too long and the senators were crying for his knowledge and expertise.

For Sam, it was the need to return to Atlantis that made the first repair to that rift very necessary. Daniel was her family in a way blood could never relate to. She had managed on the second day after the incident to drag him away from Vala to eat off the base. They'd quietly discussed what had happened and she had apologised for her part in the whole process. Daniel was very gracious in accepting her apology but stated that it would be a while before he could speak to Jack again. She'd also given him a little 'gift' which she advised that he could give to Jack by email when he was good and ready. She just needed to let him decide when and she laughed at his evil grin when she explained just what exactly it entailed.

Paul's investigation led him to find a disturbing little cadre of toys in the process of his investigations. The SF had been completely obsessed with Vala but he hid it well. His laptop contained a number of juicy reports concerning where she lived, her psychological and career history both pre and post times that she had been at the SGC. It was the ballistics report that had disturbed him the most. The given assumption was that the SF Geoffrey had shot Vala at a distance and that had been somewhat confirmed by the way the glass in the kitchen had collapsed inward.

However, the report established that yes the glass had been shot in but it was actually from just outside the window. The guy had been standing right in front of her outside when he shot her! He had found a leather band with a jewel in it that someone had informed him that it was a Sodan cloak. He was given the opportunity to try it out and he had a ball scaring the life out of the scientists in the next room. They'd also found a little Goa'uld device which could hook into any network and block signals such as camera's, communications, etc.

It was the Egyptian Cobra that they had found in his apartment that scared him the most along with a rattlesnake and a couple of venomous spiders that scared Paul the most. The man had kept them in his living room in large containers which were barely legal in terms of their habitats. He'd had to call the zoo to come and collect the animals. Sam before she left had the website crashed and locked down via the server. It had taken a running battle with the IOA to convince them not to take any action against Vala. Paul had to finish his report and he had to testify to Jack, the President and the IOA committee in a couple of days.

Paul was apprehensive about the meetings but he also was looking forward to the other side of his induction into the programme. Apparently the team had a few surprises up their sleeves and they were waiting for one other to be available before these things could happen. He just got on with filling in his reports and of course he had to tie up his loose ends at the police department. He'd report there to fill and investigations to testify on that just couldn't be handed over. It seems that his robbery suspects had been caught in the act by some rather suspicious circumstances which no one at the department could quite figure out. He'd phone Jack later and thank him. How he knew he couldn't tell but at least he could walk away from the police with his last case solved. He turned round to his bed and looked at the suitcase. Apparently it was going to take him 6 weeks to get to and from Atlantis – or so he was told! His wife was okay with his trip to Saudi Arabia considering it was a one off gig that was part of his orientation. Sam had told him she waiting to see him and that apparently John Shepherd was going to enjoy teaching him the P90, zat and wraith stinger but that he would not be going through the gate at this time! Apparently he was about to become a busy man!

After a few days, Vala was given her laptop to play with while she recuperated in the infirmary. It kept her from complaining and the nursing staff were less harassed if she was kept busy. Daniel had dropped it off the previous night and he had told her that he had installed a couple of games and had brought her some movies to watch whilst she got better. He was very sweet to her. She had told him to go do his work in his office and she would have someone call him at various times to remind him to come and see her knowing full well how caught up in his work he could get. She waited patiently as the laptop booted up and filed her nails. She looked at her desktop picture and grinned. Daniel had put a photograph of the two of them in a hug as her desktop picture. He was standing behind her. It was taken on one of the last team days out where they had managed to go to the Garden of the Gods for a hike. It was one of those random photographs that was captured where Daniel had hugged her from behind and was whispering something in her ear. She'd laughed at the comment and that was the picture that had been captured.

Vala looked over her new additions to her laptop. One of the icons was a video file that said 'for the future'. Curiously she double clicked on it and she nearly screamed. It was images of her sleeping, out with Daniel and lastly of the person who had shot her. He sat in a chair in his apartment and smiled. In the background was 'Mrs Cold' and she wanted nothing more than to destroy her laptop. She was stronger than that she knew so she held herself together like a vice and listened.

"_Hello Vala, my love. When you get this I will be dead. I told them what I wanted them to hear but truth be told I wanted to tell you in person. You are the brightest light in the universe and I wanted to let you know how you destroyed my life. Like everyone knows you get to know us SF's and you enjoyed every second of flirting with us. You had me obsessed with you to the point of beyond breathing. Do you know that my wife left me because I was so wrapped up in you! I know it's not on my record but that's because I'd only gotten married a few weeks after meeting you. She was pregnant you know! She was pregnant and because I was so obsessed I never even found out if I had a boy or a girl!. You destroyed me Vala, and yet you also have me so hung up on you I don't know which way to breathe. You haunt me and I hate you. They say there is a thin line between love and hate and every day I crossed it for you! YOU! I sent you things to remind you of what you are. A tease and eternal flirt! You never gave anyone a chance to have you and you never will. Hurting Jackson was my pleasure. If he's your ticket to staying here then he deserves nothing more. I could have given you a good life! I however know that my love would have been essentially another step up your ladder! So I hope this video finds you suffering with fear thinking I still may be out there. You are a slapper and nothing more than that! Have a nice life Vala! Keep wondering!"_

It was at this point Vala did start crying and wailing loud enough that the nursing staff called in Doctor Lam. She sedated Vala immediately and got the staff to call Daniel to her bedside knowing he could calm her without hurting herself. The laptop had it had been summarily lifted and given over to Doctor Lam who placed it in her office. Daniel was in the infirmary like a rocket. It looked like he had run the whole way and as soon as he saw Vala in tears he just climbed into the bed next to her and cuddled held her. He said nothing. He didn't need to and for that the good Doctor said nothing because she was just grateful her patient was becoming calmer.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

It could be argued that the world revolves one way and we all trot to a certain beat. However, we are not all military neither are we all the same people or else we'd be robots. Everyone reacts to things in different ways. The impact of Geoff's final message to Vala had differing degrees of impact to the SG-1 family. Paul had found via his police contacts that the tape had been made just before Geoff died and from what they had found of the body, the DNA matched with the one that they had had on record. He checked the marital records and found that Geoff had been married for 2 days before the woman annulled the marriage. When he spoke to her she demanded that they never contact her again. She'd been angry with Geoff and had lied about the pregnancy just to make matters worse. She told Paul she did it out of spite because he was obsessed by some harlot he'd seen at his work and he rarely paid attention to her after that. The marriage lasted a total of two weeks and he never touched her once that person came into their lives. Paul relayed the basic information to Vala as quickly as he could. Vala leaned on Daniel throughout Paul's report. Daniel rarely left her side over the past few weeks and he didn't watch the video. He didn't need to. Vala had been through enough without him being angry. He found that he had had enough of this whole mess. He didn't want to hear the ramblings of a very unhappy man.

Teal'c came and spoke quietly with Daniel and Vala first having hated being at odds with his warrior brother. Sometimes, Teal'c admitted that he forgot that Daniel was as honourable a warrior as he was a scholar. He should have honoured his brothers wish to be involved in the revenge of his beloved. Vala watched incredulously as they clasped forearms in Jaffa fashion as Daniel accepted his friend's apology. She had no clue as to why Teal'c felt the need to apologise to Daniel or her at all. As far as she was concerned they were friends. It had been 3 days since the video incident and 2 weeks since she woke up.

In contrast, when Cameron watched the video along with Teal'c in Carolyn's office, he'd walked very quietly out and spent about an hour on the gun range alone. No one was brave enough to approach an angry colonel with a P90 and a range of hand guns. Cameron just couldn't understand how someone could be that callous. As the gun rattled and spat he felt his frustration with the last few weeks ebb away. Vala was just someone who was lively and flirtatious yes, but she also had learned sincerity for other people which couldn't be matched. Cameron looked at the guns. All the bullets had been spent and he was tired. He showered and headed back to the infirmary. He owed some people an apology and he was long past giving it over.

When Cameron arrived there he looked for Vala's bed. He saw Daniel there and his right arm was wrapped around Vala's shoulders and Daniel was half asleep. Daniel had climbed up onto Vala's bed hoping to not get caught and Vala had wrapped herself into him. Cameron looked on at the both of them wistfully. He'd been hoping to match that kind of contentment into his own life. From getting to know Daniel and then Vala they both deserved some kind of happier life now that the worst of their own had passed them.

Vala looked directly at Cameron and put a finger to her lips. Daniel had fallen asleep. She crooked her finger over in a 'come here' gesture. "Hello Cam!" She whispered. Cameron quietly wandered over and lifted a small chair to sit next to her bed. Vala looked at him face serious and a look in her eye that Cameron had rarely seen. "Cam, I haven't seen you much with Daniel recently are there reasons for that? Daniel won't tell me much and I get the feeling that something happened when you were all looking for this…ya know….. wonko guy. Will you tell me?" She had made her usual puffed cheeks with a 'pffft' sound and matching it with a hands waving by the head gesture on the word 'wonko'. Cameron always smiled at that. He noticed she never let him say hello or ask him about his day which meant she was serious. "Well okay Princess. Get comfortable cos this ain't a pleasant story." Over the next hour Cameron told the story of Geoff's capture and how they'd zatted Daniel and placed him in a cell on the Odyssey to ensure he wouldn't get into a position of trouble. Vala's eyes narrowed when he'd got to THAT particular part of the story and she'd turned and gently kissed Daniel on the forehead. She held up her hand after that to stop Cameron. "One question Cam and I want it answered honestly. Why did Jack order you to do that?"

Cameron sighed "Princess, I've been thinkin' over this for the last few weeks and I guess he wanted to protect the one person who is like a brother, no, scratch that, a son to him. I know precious little about their friendship but I know Jack would do everything to protect what makes Jackson who he is. Even if it meant making him an enemy he would do it."

"And that Mitchell is what makes Jack an idiot." They turned to Daniel he was wide awake. Daniel had been listening in on the latter part of the conversation and Vala must have known it. "He knows me better than that. He has to know by now that he could have just asked me to stay with Vala and I would have been happy to comply. Ack! He is as stubborn as I am and he could have just asked." Cameron looked at Daniel and shook his head. He finally got something. Daniel and Jack were cut from two sides of the same coin. Both men were as stubborn and loyal to a fault and both major idiots when it came to realising what they needed to do for their friendship. Cameron reached across the bed and offered his hand to Daniel. "Brother for my part I can only say sorry. I wish I could say I was followin' orders man but I hate to say I suffer from some of the same affliction." Daniel reached across and took his hand. To which Vala cried out "Group hug!" both men looked at her and laughed. Some things needed to go back to normal and Cameron couldn't be happier about that.

Release day and Vala was really getting sick of four walls and concrete. Daniel had come and picked her up from the infirmary and begun to wheel her out into the hall in a wheelchair. He was pushing her towards her on base quarters when she suddenly and unexpectedly grabbed the wheels and turned to him pouting. "Daniel? Do we have to stay here?" Daniel looked at her. He'd been doing this quite deliberately. "Where would you like to go Vala?" She put on her most unabashed seductive glare. "I want to get out of here. I haven't kissed you properly for days and I want to curl up on our sofa and talk until we see sunrise above ground. I won't let this guy take my home away from me and I refuse to let him annoy you." She stamped her foot on the chair's support. "I want my welcome home Daniel Jackson. You know the one you owe me?" Daniel let go of the grin he had been hiding. He'd been hoping for that too as he ran his eye appreciatively up and down her blue jeans and red tank top. They needed time alone and the fact that Daniel had taken the first bit of leave in about 9 months was something he didn't want to waste either. They needed to put their lives back together and he needed to help her with her recovery. "Anywhoo what was that you were sayin' about home?" he winked and swiftly turned her wheelchair towards the elevators. Vala giggled. Daniel was very smart but he could half act so dumb at times.

They arrived back at the house and parked Daniel's SUV in the drive. It was close to early evening and there was a light breeze cutting through the warm summer air providing light relief from the heat. Daniel helped Vala get out of the car and into the wheelchair. Vala was tense and Daniel could feel it in her frame, so he knelt down in front of her and kissed her softly in an agonizingly sweet manner. He looked at her. "Vala, you know we can do this welcome home thing another day and take a run to the park and the movies."

He said this softly. They both had not been home since the shooting but Daniel was certain that someone from the team would have cleaned up the mess and stocked the kitchen for their return. It was something that was always done by either team members or close SGC friends. He'd also made one request of Teal'c today that, if Vala and he were ready, to go into the house together, should be waiting for them both. He looked at Vala showing his nervousness. He was trying to be honest with her over this. She stared back at him. Both of them were wondering how they were going to get through this and neither of them backing down in their stubbornness. They felt like kids daring one another into the haunted house except it was home and some monster had violated it. Vala broke the silence by leaning forward in the chair and reaching for Daniels chin. She pulled him forward and kissed him long and deep. 'Ah motivation!' she thought. Daniel knew then that he wanted to get in inside. Public displays of affection were just not his style and she knew it. "Minx" he whispered and she smirked.

Vala held her smirk for 2 seconds and it faltered when thoughts of the words Geoffrey had said on the video came to her mind. A tear started to roll down her cheek and she tried to hide it as Daniel wheeled the chair to the door. As Daniel fumbled for the keys, he turned found that she had started to cry. He wiped her tears and was desperately trying to think of ways to calm her. "Hey, Hey! Shhh! Vala, hush! Don't let him get to you." Daniel wrapped his arms around her and Vala held him there in a vice like hug. Her grip was fierce and strong and Daniel began to have trouble breathing. "Vala….. Love… Can't (gasp)….. Breathe!" She let him go a small laugh escaping from her mouth along with a hiccup from crying. She let him go with some reluctance. It was nice to be held, wanted and even loved. The door was opened and Daniel pushed the chair into the dining room. There, in the middle of the table was a vase filled with roses and candles waiting to be lit for dinner. Daniel lifted out a rose and gave it to Vala. "Welcome home Vala, I've missed you." The sad longing in his voice made Vala tear up again and he lifted her out of the chair to stand. He held onto her tightly and they stayed that way until Vala needed to sit down again.

After Dinner, the two of them sat curled in each other's arms on the brown leather sofa with two glasses of wine sitting on the coffee table. They were just content to hold onto one another neither speaking nor feeling the need to. There was the occasional kiss or touch but it was just restful to be in one another's company. The classical music played quietly in the background. Vala broke the silence. "Daniel, when did you last speak to Jack?" A look of annoyance flashed across his face and a heavy sigh escaped from his lips. "A few weeks ago. Listen I've been waiting for him to apologise to me and it hasn't happened." Vala scowled. It was one of her more frightening looks to Daniel. "You two are just as bad as the other. HE won't apologise because he thought that protecting you was the best thing to do. YOU won't apologise to him because you're so stubborn to see that even though he could have asked you to step back Jack did what he thought was best to protect you from any future problems. Ack! MEN! Sometimes you're just both so DUMB!" Vala threw her hands up in the air. She managed to slide her body over to the opposite side of the sofa. "GIMME!" She launched her hand in front of Daniel and twitched her fingers. "Give you?" queried Daniel "Give you what exactly?" Vala crossed her arms and scowled again. She then put her hand out again "GIVE ME your cell phone!" Daniel let out a disgusted snort. He knew what she was about to do and he wasn't happy about it.

Vala watched as Daniel lifted out his cell phone with disgust. She had had enough of this whole incident trying to rip apart her friends, no, family because someone couldn't get his life straightened out. She felt the phone being slapped into her hand and looked at her glass. Vala snatched it up and downed its contents in one gulp. She smiled sweetly at Daniel and then leaned in and kissed him for what seemed the hundredth time for the evening. "Darling would you fill my glass for me?" Daniel had been watching her and knew that this was a little one of her ploys. "Why? mine is full and you could have that." He responded just as sweetly to her. Vala didn't quit. She leaned forward to his glass, gulped it down and this time gave him a full deep kiss. "C'mon Daniel more wine please?" she batted her eyelashes. Daniel rolled his eyes and stood up. "Okay, okay, I surrender! I'll go get the bottle from the fridge in the kitchen!" Vala smirked knowing full well she'd won the round and because she wanted to start the conversation with Jack without Daniel hanging over her. Some things were required to be started alone. As Daniel left the room she dialled Jack knowing he'd be back in his apartment by now. It was after 10pm so he'd have given up on the paperwork.

Jack's phone went and he glumly looked at the caller ID – Daniel. He'd been avoiding this talk for weeks and he figured Daniel had something official to tell him otherwise he would have emailed him. 'May as well get this over with." He thought glumly. He lifted the phone. "Jack O'Neill"

"Jonathan Jack O'Neill! Why haven't you come to see me?" Jack cringed. He hadn't thought it would be Vala.

"Vala! Good to hear your voice. I take it that you are home then?" He tried to make his voice as upbeat as possible. He knew she wouldn't be fooled.

"Jack, yes I'm home and stop avoiding the question."

"Sorry" Jack cringed. Next to Sam, Vala was a force to be reckoned with. She and Daniel could be scarily alike at times. "I guess I've been avoiding Daniel since I got Cameron to zat him. I take it he's still not speaking to me?"

"Got it in one Jack! You and I will have a conversation about that at a later time. I'm not happy that you took a zat to Daniel but I can understand the reasons behind it. However, you two need to apologise to each other before I have to call Sam in Atlantis and inorder to get you two blockheads to sit down and talk!" Jack shivered at that. He could be frightened into a corner by Sam on her own on the best of days when it was personal but Vala AND Sam? He heard her call Daniel and the shuffle at the mike as the phone was passed over to him.

"Jack?" (_I'm still mad at you but okay I'm sorry)._ Jack was about to respond in the usual manner but felt that he wasn't up for the usual one word conversations Daniel and he normally had plus it didn't always go too well on a phone anyway.

"Daniel? Okay maybe I am sorry and I miss hanging about with you guys. So sorry but ya know it's only cos I didn't want ya hurt by this guy in any way." Jack shook his head 'Must be gettin' soft in my older age'.

"Sure Jack, just remember I'm not a kid anymore. I never really was." Daniel's voice sounded slightly contrite but seemed relieved just to be talking to him again. "Right Jack, I'm gonna go here. Are you still giving the speech at the Academy next week?"

Jack scrunched his face up in annoyance. "Yeah the good luck grunts speech – why?"

"Just thought I'd, ya know, bring Vala up and we'd grab a coffee or lunch after." Jack smiled but still thought it odd that Daniel would do this. "Sure kid, sure. See ya then!"

Daniel hung the call and turned to Vala a mischievous smile on his face. "Would you like to teach Jack a lesson for zatting me? I have something to mess him with." Vala mirrored his smile. It was not a look she had seen before on Daniel's face so she knew it had to be good. "What did you have in mind?" He smiled again.


	24. Chapter 23 Epilogue

A/N: Can I just thank everyone who has read, commented, added to their alerts and favourite this story. It's been a surprise as much to me in terms of the response as well as the support. This is the final chapter and I didn't want to end on a downer. Enjoy and you never know maybe Paul will come back again with Sal! Anywhoo Thanks again and enjoy!

**Chapter 23 - Epilogue**

The academy lecture theatre was quite large and this speech was only being given to a select few. The graduates of the SGC training programme had been quite privileged to pass and were now all awaiting permanent assignment to their units or other places within the programme. Their graduation was going to be marked by a speech given by a former SG-1 leader General Jack O'Neill and that had the students abuzz with anticipation. Many had heard the stories and were in awe of the man. Rumour had it that 2 other SG-1 members could grace their presence to this occasion and that in itself held a fascination in addition to the awe of the students. They'd looked around but could not identify clearly who the rumoured guests might be. It was only a second later that the dean came out and everyone began to settle down.

Jack stuck his neck out from behind the curtain and just as quickly stuck it back in again. He hated his monkey suit. 'Ack – Cam's getting' to me!' thought Jack as he ran his fingers under his collar. His full dress uniform was something that he had grown to despise with rank. He was wearing it constantly now and he had to iron more shirts since he got the two stars and he hated ironing – meant he HAD to do laundry EVERY week instead of month. He loved going back to the SGC and wearing his BDU's. He looked up to the back of the lecture theatre and saw Daniel and Vala sitting together whispering quietly. Daniel was dressed in his usual pinstripe charcoal grey suit and blue shirt and tie and Vala was wearing a pale blue strapless dress with her hair tied loosely in a ponytail that fell down her back. Jack smiled softly and hid it again. It was nice to see them back to some kind of normality but Jack knew even then some of that would take time. Jack waited patiently as the dean introduced the general and then he walked out on stage after his assistant handed over the copy of the speech. He took a deep breath and headed out onto the stage and began his speech.

"For many of you this will be the finest day in your life. You've got to know the world and now you are about to meet the galaxy. Life for many of us who go through the gate is so much bigger than what we thought it was and our problems sometimes seem so much less than those of the people we meet. When you go through the gate be aware that you have good people to watch your point and your six, trust your commander to help you learn your craft as explorers and trust your team mates to see you through every good and bad experience – even the painful ones. The galaxy out there makes us more than airmen and women. We are there to learn to be soldiers with a conscience. You young men and women have been selected specifically for a special responsibility which is to represent more than a country but a world that has long since meant freedom to those we have come across. Be aware that when you take up your roles, be conscious of that when you step through the gate. I'm not a man for long speeches so I will only say this about your time with the programme. It'll change your life and your perspective – enjoy it!

Before I finish there are a few things however that are important to remember when you arrive on your first day at the SGC…" Jack looked at the start of the list and swallowed hard something was not right here. The speech felt slightly different compared to the last time he gave it. Oh well he couldn't stop now – cadets could always smell fear. That much he was certain and he was too stubborn to let fear become an issue. He took a deep breath and continued.

"First, keep your gun clean and your C4 handy – hey it's what I did and I'm still here!

Second, doohickeys and rocks are essential. Always respect the fact that I will never know what anything means from a scientist. They're smart and I get bored easy." Jacks eye's widened at that one and so did the cadets! He could do nothing but continue.

"Thirdly, half the people in the SGC are waaay smarter than I am including archaeologists who do NOT have time to entertain or chase after bored generals." The penny started to drop on what was happening here for Jack and he didn't know what else to do but finish the speech.

"Finally never, ever piss off your favourite senior archaeologist because he'll punk you in a heartbeat during an essential speech!" Jack looked to the back of the lecture theatre to see Daniel and Vala grin as if butter wouldn't melt in their mouths – he was gonna skin them both alive when he got over to them! He saw many of the cadet's faces. Many of them had a cross between absolute horror and biting their lips hard trying not to laugh at the general in case sanctions were slapped on them. He took another controlled breath and prayed "Good luck cadets!".

Jack gathered his notes and quickly walked off the stage. The blush was burning in his cheeks. He was going to kill Daniel for this one and in such a way that he couldn't come BACK THIS TIME! His anger made him quick in step as he looked around for a couple of SF's to grab the good doctor and his partner in crime. The halls of the academy were virtually empty as this was one of the few times they shut the academy down for a graduation due to its classified nature. These graduations were given privately without any families being any the wiser as to what their children or spouses were actually being assigned to do.

He stopped and looked at the end of the hall. There stood Daniel and Vala barely contained laughter on their faces. "Daniel?" Daniel took one look at Jacks face and crumbled slightly. "Jack?" The expression on his face changed to pure innocence. "Nice speech Jack you should give it every year." Vala coughed. Jack could tell she was barely containing her laughter. "Ya think? It's kinda different wouldn't you say?" Daniel smirked. Jack pressed the issue. "Alright where did you get it?" Daniel feigned hurt. "Oh so you think I had something to do with it? Jack didn't you just; in front of witnesses admit that scientists were smarter than you? Like a certain blonde one?" Jacks mind raced. It made sense that she would give Daniel a copy but it made more sense that Daniel would mess with it and Vala would flirt her way into swapping it over. He'd looked at the speech briefly this morning and it wasn't the one he was going to give. Jack raised his head and gave Daniel a looked that promised death. He smiled slowly, dangerously "Daniel?"

Daniel gulped. "Ah, yes Jack? " The innocent look was back on his face. Jack had stepped all the way up to him and was now nose to nose when he said this. "I will get you back for this. Be very certain of it and don't forget, now that I'm a general I have more resources to do it with." Daniels confidence withered. Jack hugged Daniel. "Ah man I've missed this. How've ya been spacemonkey?" Daniel smiled and clapped Jack on his shoulder. "I've been good now that Vala can get up and around."

Vala leaned over and kissed Jack on the cheek. She smiled and added "I'm back on active duty next week giving me a week to harass Daniel. I'm trying to decide my main method but I starting at seduction and working my way down!" Jack laughed as he watched Daniel put his hands in his pockets and shuffle his feet. The blush that escaped from his cheeks seemed to flush all over. Vala smiled and winked. She turned to Jack and crossed her arms over her pale blue strapless dress. "Now General, I believe you owe us both a dinner and a proper apology!"

Two days later and Daniel and Vala arrived back in Colorado. They'd had a great time with Jack and Daniel was able to mend the damaged fences with him. It had been a fantastic day. Today however, it was one of those rare days that Daniel and Vala could relax and be off the base together. The sun blistered the sky and everything seemed normal. Daniel walked down the street with his arm wrapped around Vala and things just seemed to be right with the world. They were due to go on a mission in the next couple of days so having this downtime seemed like bliss for both of them. They were walking through the Garden of the Gods taking their time. It was a nice day to have peace and quiet with each other without this world, other worlds and its cronies sneaking in. They talked quietly about their future and their expectations.

Vala stopped suddenly on the path with a thought that had suddenly come into her mind. She turned, looked to Daniel and smiled. She had only one question she wanted to ask him right there and then. "Daniel?" Daniel lifted his head from the dusty path and turned to face her. "hmm?" Vala put her hand on his chest and used her left hand to lift his chin to her eyes. "Do you think Jack has figured out yet that we videoed the speech and posted it on the SGC staff intranet and the Atlantis weekly databurst?" Daniel smiled and laughed. "Nope! He'll find out in coupla months or two. When Sam tells him! He's not gonna believe that she gave it to me on a USB stick a few days before she left. She also gave me the code to beam him up from his shower into Landrys office at the SGC. I'm saving that one for a rainy day." They laughed hard. Jack was soo gonna kick their asses for this one!

Paul stood at the bottom of the ramp of the Stargate. Daniel and Vala came to stand beside him. Daniel was screwing in the sight on his P90. "So, Paul, are you ready for this? We're going to get you your partner." Paul shifted his feet a little nervous, apprehensive. He knew that at some point he would be asked to go through the gate as part of his orientation and also to give him an idea of what the people he had to protect go through on a daily basis. Vala stepped over to him and tugged on his arm. She looked at Daniel and Paul noticed yet again another of their nonverbal conversations going on. Daniel's mouth twitched in a small smile. Vala's face grew serious. "Paul, this is the sister of my friend who died that we are going to see. She is a bounty hunter and her sister was killed by the galactic equivalent of the mafia. Jayna has been looking for an 'out' for a while now. She's here to help and I'm here to say thank you. Thank you for being someone I can trust to watch my back when I come home and that of those I love dearly. So thank you." Vala looked at Paul and then shifted her gaze onto her P90. Paul was stunned at her praise. This from a woman he'd so casually dismissed so many moons ago was now thanking him.

The groan of the side blast door opened to admit Colonel Mitchell and Teal'c. "Yo Princess! Stop gossipin' and get your butt over here! We've somewhere to be!" Paul followed Vala tugging at his tac vest and checking over his baretta and zat in their leg holsters. He heard the General Landry's voice "Good luck SG-1! Take care of Mr Ryan and we'll keep a light on for you!" Cam' turned and saluted the general. "Thank'ya sir. Right boys and girls lets ride!" The team all looked at Cam and shrugged and began walking up the ramp to the active stargate. Paul hadn't even noticed it spring to life as he had been that engrossed by what Vala had to say. How silly was that? He walked up the ramp to find Daniel waiting for him. "Ready for this Paul?" Daniel asked.

"Ready? Don't think I even know what ready is when I look at this." Daniel smiled.

"I know the feeling. Piece of cake!" Daniel turned and pushed him in. When Paul looked around in the next second he saw a lush green surroundings with blue grass and two moons hanging overhead. 'Definitely NOT earth!' He felt amazed both by the journey and the destination and the simple curiosity he'd missed fired in him again. Vala turned to Paul. "If you think this is good wait till you see the rest of it all!" Paul nodded and smiled. "I trust Vala that you'll keep me right"

Daniel smiled at that. "Welcome to the universe Paul Ryan! Let's go get your partner so you can start to build your staff. Jack'll kill me again if we don't get this done." The group all nodded and smirked at that. So they began their walk to find the road that would take them into the small town ahead.

Vala hung back for a moment or two as she watched Paul look around him and the rest of the team began discussing the barbeque that they'd planned to invite Paul's family and Sal along with the SF's to come to General Landry's home. She felt sorry for Geoffrey because he had thought she was something that he could blame for his messed up life but she also felt she had gained something also. She had gained a new family member someone to who she trusted. She stared again at Paul and smiled softly to herself. 'I'd better get a move on before he finds out that I can cause more of the trouble than he can imagine from Daniel!' She ran off to join her friends. For once not worrying about what was ahead or waiting at home.

**The End**


End file.
